Repetitive Nonsuicidal Self‐Injury as Experiential Avoidance Among a Community Sample of Adolescents

Laura Howe‐Martin · Amy R. Murrell · Charles A. Guarnaccia

113 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Clinical Psychology

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Suicide and Self-Harm Studies Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions Personality Disorders and Psychopathology

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the relationship between experiential avoidance, functionally equivalent behaviors, and repetitive nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI/RNSSI) among adolescents. METHOD: Self-report questionnaires from adolescents (N = 211) from 3 school-based samples were employed to assess three forms of experiential avoidance (thought suppression, alexithymia, and avoidance/cognitive fusion), various aspects of self-mutilating behaviors, and the existence of functionally equivalent behaviors (disordered eating, substance abuse, suicidal ideation/behaviors). RESULTS: Results indicated one third of participants reported a history of NSSI and 16% reported engaging in RNSSI in the past 6 months. Female adolescents were twice as likely as males to report a history of RNSSI. Unwanted inner experiences, thought suppression, and alexithymia differentiated adolescents with a history of NSSI from their counterparts. Functionally equivalent behaviors occurred more frequently among those with a history of NSSI and increased in severity as NSSI increased, particularly suicidal ideation and behaviors. However, results for patterns of avoidance were not as consistent for males as females, which questions the broad application of this model. CONCLUSIONS: NSSI continues to be surprisingly common among adolescents in the community. NSSI, particularly repetitive forms, appears to be strongly related to common forms of experiential avoidance, moreso for female adolescents. Results also illustrate the importance of conceptualizing and treating self-injury as a form of experiential avoidance.

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References

1996Experiential avoidance and behavioral disorders: A functional dimensional approach to diagnosis and treatment.1987Sex differences in unipolar depression: Evidence and theory.2005Solving the puzzle of deliberate self-harm: The experiential avoidance model 1994Chronic Thought Suppression 2009Why Do People Hurt Themselves?2001Measurement of Deliberate Self-Harm: Preliminary Data on the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory 2002Deliberate self harm in adolescents: self report survey in schools in England 1998Self-mutilation in clinical and general population samples: Prevalence, correlates, and functions.

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2013The Role of Trauma Symptoms in Nonsuicidal Self-Injury 2018Emotion Regulation Deficits and Nonsuicidal Self‐Injury Prospectively Predict Suicide Ideation in Adolescents 2023Relationship between alexithymia, loneliness, resilience and non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents with depression: a multi-center study 2015The relationship between self‐harm and alexithymia 2019The associations between alexithymia and both non-suicidal self-injury and risky drinking: A systematic review and meta-analysis

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