Examining the association between exposure to major stressful life events and non-suicidal self-injury

Abstract

Experiencing major stressful life events (SLEs) may contribute to risk for non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Prior research has established that a higher number of SLEs is linked with more frequent NSSI episodes among young adults. However, life stress is typically assessed with checklist approaches; these methods introduce frequent idiosyncratic misinterpretations of stress categories (e.g., major illness). Coupled with the unclear boundary of what constitutes SLEs, relying on participants’ subjective appraisals of stress severity attenuates validity. Specifically, individuals with a history of NSSI may have certain cognitive characteristics that contribute to an over-appraisal of event severity. Interview-based, contextual life stress systems overcome these limitations by having third-party raters blind to participant characteristics determine stress severity based on a standardized set of circumstances. Accordingly, this study used the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule 2 (LEDS-II), which is a gold-standard, semi-structured life stress interview and rating system. Specifically, we focused on the cumulative severity of episodic stressors (i.e., SLEs whose major features occur within a 2-week period). In preliminary analyses of 53 participants (Mage= 20.17, SDage= 2.51), cumulative stress severity (M =2.96, SD =3.20) was not significantly associated with the number of NSSI episodes participants reported in the past year (M = 22.75, SD = 67.46), r(53) = .13 p = .370. Data collection is ongoing, and we anticipate adding 30 participants (total n=83) to the analyses. Current findings do not align with previous literature on the association between SLEs and NSSI. However, they provide a methodological foundation for how to improve future research on SLEs and NSSI in young adults through the application of gold-standard life stress measures.