Symposia
Suicide and Self-Injury
Lauren A. Haliczer, M.A., M.S.
PhD Candidate
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Providence, Rhode Island
Katherine Dixon-Gordon, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA
Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is prevalent among young adults (Glenn & Klonsky, 2011; Whitlock et al., 2011), and is associated with heightened suicide risk (Klonsky et al., 2013; Wilkinson et al., 2011). The defective self model of NSSI theorizes that individuals who are highly self-critical are more likely to choose NSSI to regulate emotions (Hooley et al., 2010). This model indirectly suggests that individuals who engage in NSSI may be more prone to experiencing self-conscious emotions in response to negative social feedback, and this may place individuals at heightened imminent risk for NSSI in everyday life. However, this has yet to be explored. Therefore, the present study examined whether individuals with a history of NSSI (vs. without) display greater self-conscious and negative emotional responses to daily social stressors, as well as more dysfunctional features of these daily social stressors. We also examined whether within-person increases in these emotional responses and social stressor features predict increased risk for NSSI urges and behaviors in daily life.
Participants were 134 young adult women (Mage = 21.01, SD = 3.19) with recent, recurrent NSSI (n = 77) or no NSSI history (n = 57) recruited from a university and its surrounding community. Participants completed baseline measures of socioemotional functioning and a two-week daily diary protocol in which they reported on daily social stressors and NSSI urges and behaviors.
The NSSI (vs. no NSSI) group reported significantly greater self-conscious and negative (high and low arousal) emotional responses to daily social stressors, and social stressors characterized by significantly greater distress, conflict, and confusion (ps < .05). In the NSSI group, experiencing social stressors characterized by greater-than-usual distress was associated with same-day NSSI urges (OR = 1.02, SE = 0.01, p < .001) and behavior (OR = 1.03, SE = 0.01, p = .005). Greater-than-usual confusion predicted same-day NSSI urges (OR = 1.28, SE = 0.05, p < .001), whereas greater-than-usual conflict predicted same-day NSSI behavior (OR = 1.29, SE = 0.08, p = .001). Greater-than-usual (1) self-conscious and negative ([2] low arousal, [3] high arousal) emotional responses to these stressors predicted same-day NSSI urges ([1] OR = 1.32, SE = 0.12, p = .022; [2] OR = 1.49, SE = 0.12, p = .002; [3] OR = 1.44, SE = 0.09, p = .022) and behavior ([1] OR = 1.50, SE = 0.14, p = .004; [2] OR = 1.86, SE = 0.16, p < .001; [3] OR = 1.35, SE = 0.13, p = .022).
Findings have important clinical implications for the prevention and treatment of NSSI.