Abstract

BackgroundYoung adults are a high-risk group for nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). It is important to have a better understanding of these behaviors in order to facilitate effective research, intervention, and treatment. Models have been presented to explain these behaviors where emotion regulation, coping, and support play a role. Yet conflicting results have occurred based on demographic factors such as race and sex. While controlling for the observable demographic factors, this study sought to examine differences between individuals who currently engage in NSSI, engaged in NSSI in the past, and never engaged in NSSI related to emotions, coping strategies, interpersonal support, and ethnic identity and belonging.MethodsParticipants were selected from freshman students at two universities, in geographically different locations in the United States (N = 282). Participants in this study were matched on demographic factors: race, sex, and university. This led to demographically matched groups (current, past, never engagement in NSSI; n = 94 per group). Groups were compared on intrapersonal factors (i.e., emotions: depression and anxiety; coping strategies: adaptive and maladaptive; interpersonal support: family, friend, and significant other; and ethnic identity and belonging). Descriptive statistics and ANOVA with post hoc Scheffe were utilized to explicate differences between groups.ResultsIndividuals who never engaged in NSSI reported significantly higher levels of ethnic belonging and interpersonal support and lower levels of depression and anxiety than both groups who engaged in NSSI. Individuals who never self-injured used less adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies than participants who self-injured. Young adults who currently engaged in NSSI reported higher levels of depression and anxiety, higher levels of both types of coping, and perceived less support.ConclusionsIt is important to understand the differences between individuals who self-injure in comparison to those who do not so that mental health clinicians can provide more effective services and preventative efforts.

Highlights

  • Young adults are a high-risk group for nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI)

  • The goal of the current study was to answer the following research question: While controlling for the observable demographic factors of sex and race that may have served as potential confounds in previous findings, what is the difference between individuals who currently engage in NSSI, engaged in NSSI in the past, and never engaged in NSSI related to emotions, coping strategies, interpersonal support, and ethnic identity and belonging?

  • The frequency of engagement, or number of episodes, participants reported in the past 90 days ranged from 1 to 1,000 (M = 24.46, SD = 112.90; note: one person who reported engaging over 5,000 time in the past 90 days was removed from this mean score due to the outlying score; 13 individuals indicated the methods they currently utilized to NSSI but did not report a frequency)

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Summary

Introduction

Young adults are a high-risk group for nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). It is important to have a better understanding of these behaviors in order to facilitate effective research, intervention, and treatment. Models have been presented to explain these behaviors where emotion regulation, coping, and support play a role. While controlling for the observable demographic factors, this study sought to examine differences between individuals who currently engage in NSSI, engaged in NSSI in the past, and never engaged in NSSI related to emotions, coping strategies, interpersonal support, and ethnic identity and belonging. A review of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) reveals that, with the exception of inpatient populations, rates of NSSI are the highest among adolescents and young adults. Given that NSSI has been reported as one of the most difficult behaviors to treat [4], and that 80% of young adults who self-injure are not engaged in formal mental health treatment [5], there is a need to Trepal et al Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health (2015) 9:36 understand these behaviors in depth in order to facilitate effective clinical intervention and treatment. Nock’s [7] Integrated Theoretical Model of the Development and Maintenance of NSSI maintains that the combination of intense aversive emotions and cognitions, with the added inability to cope or use of poor coping strategies, leads to engagement in NSSI to provide temporary regulation of the situation

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