Abstract
A cross-sectional study examining relationships between perceived family Expressed Emotion and shame, emotional involvement, depression, anxiety, stress and non-suicidal self-injury, in 264 community and online adults (21.6% male). We compared self-injurers with non-self-injurers, and current with past self-injurers. Self-injurers experienced more family Expressed Emotion (EE) than non-injurers (t(254) = −3.24, p = 0.001), linear contrasts explaining 6% of between-groups variability (F(2, 254) = 7.36, p = 0.001, η2 = 0.06). Differences in EE between current and past self-injurers were not significant. Overall shame accounted for 33% of between-groups variance (F(2, 252) = 61.99, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.33), with linear contrasts indicating self-injurers experienced higher levels compared to non-injurers (t(252) = −8.23, p < 0.001). Current self-injurers reported higher overall shame than past self-injurers (t(252) = 6.78, p < 0.001). In further logistic regression, emotional involvement and overall shame were the only significant predictors of self-injury status. With every one-unit increase in emotional involvement, odds of currently engaging in self-injury decreased by a factor of 0.860. Conversely, a one-unit increase in overall shame was associated with an increase in the odds of being a current self-injurer by a factor of 1.05. The findings have important treatment implications for engaging key family members in intervention and prevention efforts.
Highlights
The overall lifetime prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury in Australia is 8.1% [1], with intentional self-harm accounting for about 28,000 hospital separations per annum [2]
The current study aimed to explore the role of Expressed Emotion (EE), shame, and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in a community sample of adults
EE had a medium correlation with perceived criticism (r = 0.67; p < 0.001) and a small to medium correlation with emotional involvement (r = 0.49; p < 0.001)
Summary
The overall lifetime prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury in Australia is 8.1% [1], with intentional self-harm accounting for about 28,000 hospital separations per annum [2]. Self-injury is often impulsive, can be associated with suicidality, is co-morbid with a range of psychiatric difficulties, and serves interpersonal and intrapersonal functions [5,6]. Links between family dysfunction and suicidal thoughts, behaviours, and attempts have been documented within normative [7] and clinical [8] adolescent samples. Influential factors include parental separation or divorce, parental psychopathology, family history of suicide attempts, and domestic violence or abuse [9,10,11]. Impaired parent–child relationships have been implicated in suicidal behaviours [12,13,14]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
