Symposia
Suicide and Self-Injury
Thomas Olino, Ph.D.
Professor
Temple University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Julia Case, MA
Clinical Psychology Intern
University of Miami/Jackson Behavioral Health Hospital
Miami, Florida
The broad construct of self-harm is inclusive of both non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB). Within these models, there is common variance shared between these constructs and unique variance that distinguishes these constructs. There are also theoretical models and empirical evidence suggesting that reward sensitivity and impulsivity are both important factors implicated in the development and maintenance of NSSI and STBs. Unfortunately, much of work has focused on either NSSI or STBs and reward sensitivity and impulsivity. Thus, there remain large questions about whether these associations are general for both forms of self-harm, or are specific to only one of the classes of behavior. We relied on data from the Adolescent Behavior Cognitive Development Study examining associations between reports of youth engagement in NSSI and STBs and reward sensitivity and impulsivity.
Youth (n = 11876) completed computer administered diagnostic interviews and self-report measures of reward sensitivity (BIS-BAS; Carver & White, 1994) and impulsivity (UPPS; Whiteside & Lynam, 2001). Mixed effects models included multiple youth per family, as well as multiple families within recruitment site. As NSSI and STBs also co-occur with internalizing and externalizing problems, models also included those constructs as covariates.
NSSI and STBs were both associated with individual subscales from BIS-BAS and UPPS, with the exception that NSSI was not associated with UPPS sensation seeking. Overall, the individual effect sizes in these models were quite small [mean prNSSI = .05 (SD prNSSI = .03); mean prSTB = .06 (SD prNSSI = .02)]. Associations between NSSI and STBs and youth internalizing and externalizing problems were also of small effect sizes. Complementary analyses will examine associations between NSSI and STB and reward related brain activation and connectivity.
In our analyses, we find that NSSI and STBs demonstrate similar associations with self-report measures of both reward sensitivity and impulsivity. This provides additional support suggesting their overlap within a broader construct of self-harm. The small effect sizes in the associations are suggestive that additional characteristics may be critical for identifying how reward sensitivity and impulsivity are implicated in NSSI and STBs.