Self-Efficacy Pathways Between Relational Aggression and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury

Abstract

The authors recruited college students (N = 648) and investigated relationships among academic and social self-efficacy, relational aggression from parents and peers, and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). Results indicated that both types of self-efficacy were related inversely to NSSI. Academic self-efficacy mediated the relationship between parental emotional abuse and NSSI, whereas social self-efficacy mediated the relationship between peer victimization and NSSI. Clinical implications of these findings for college counselors are discussed. Keywords: nonsuicidal self-injury, self-efficacy, relational aggression ********** Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is an increasingly common presenting issue in college counseling centers (Whitlock, Eells, Cummings, & Purington, 2009). This behavior pertains to the deliberate damaging of one's own bodily tissue without suicidal intent and outside of social norms (Favazza, 1998). Although prevalence rates for NSSI vary, they are consistently high among college students: Researchers have reported lifetime NSSI prevalence rates for college students (i.e., engagement in NSSI at some point during an individual's lifetime) ranging from 15% to 41% (Aizenman & Jensen, 2007; Whitlock et al., 2011). Approximately 22% of college students can be classified as individuals who frequently self-injured in the past year (i.e., had performed one method of NSSI over five times or at least three different methods of NSSI in the past year; Buser, Buser, & Kearney, 2012). Indeed, the behavior has become substantially prevalent to warrant a new diagnostic proposal for NSSI (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2012) in revisions to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev; APA, 2000). Unfortunately, according to the results of Whitlock et al. (2009), only 28% of college mental health professionals believe that they know enough about NSSI to deliver effective care. Knowledge about its possible causes may be particularly useful in this regard. Researchers have indicated that NSSI often occurs within the context of relational aggression from others, including parental and peer sources (Adrian, Zernan, Erdley, Lisa, & Sim, 2011; Buser et al., 2012; Classman, Weierich, Hooley, Deliberto, & Nock, 2007; Hilt, Cha, & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2008; Weierich & Nock, 2008; Yates, Tracy, & Luthar, 2008). However, there is less understanding of the explanatory mechanisms linking aggression from others with an individual's use of NSSI (Yates et al., 2008). Recent investigations have begun to address this issue. Researchers have identified some variables, such as emotional dysregulation, posttraumatic stress symptoms, self-criticism, and alienation toward parents, that appear to mediate the association between NSSI and various forms of aggression from others (Adrian et al., 2011; Glassman et al., 2007; Weierich & Nock, 2008; Yates et al., 2008). Many of these studies, however, have been conducted with adolescent populations. Adrian et al. (2011), for example, collected data from an adolescent inpatient sample (N= 99) and found that emotional dysregulation served as a mediator in the link between peer victimization and NSSI, as well as the link between family relational problems and NSSI. Similarly, Glassman et al. (2007) reported that self-criticism among adolescents (N = 86) partially explained the association between NSSI and emotional abuse from parents. Considering that these studies focused on younger populations, more research that examines the pathways for the NSSI-relational aggression association among college students is needed. Such investigations may yield dissimilar results. Findings have shown, for example, that types of relational aggression (e.g., peer victimization) dissipate with age (Nansel et al., 2001). The aim of this study was to test a theory-driven model of variables that predicted NSSI frequency in the past year among college students. …