Does the decision to disclose non-suicidal self-injury align with decision-making frameworks of personal information disclosure? A directed content analysis.

Abstract

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is the deliberate damage caused to one's own body tissue, without the intent to die. Voluntary disclosure of one's NSSI can catalyze help-seeking and provision of support, although what informs the decision to disclose NSSI is not yet well understood. There is currently no existing framework specific to the process of NSSI disclosure, and the aim of this study was to assess the fit between factors involved in the decision to disclose NSSI and two broader frameworks of disclosure: the Disclosure Decision-Making and Disclosure Processes models. A directed content analysis was used to code interview transcripts from 15 participants, all of whom were university students aged between 18 and 25 (M = 20.33, SD = 1.88), with 11 identifying as female. All participants had lived experience of NSSI which they had previously disclosed to at least one other person. All codes within the coding matrix, which were informed by the disclosure models, were identified as being present in the data. Of the 229 units of data, 95.63% were captured in the existing frameworks with only 10 instances being unique to NSSI disclosure. Though factors that inform the decision to disclose NSSI largely align with the aforementioned models of disclosure, there are aspects of disclosure decision-making that may be specific to NSSI.