Non-Suicidal Self-Injury and Eating Disordered Behaviors: An Update on What We Do and Do Not Know

Abstract

Purpose of Review The current report aims to summarize recent advances about the relationship between non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and eating disordered (ED) behaviors and highlights meaningful directions for future research. Recent Findings While there is solid evidence indicating a robust cross-sectional association between NSSI and ED behaviors, emerging evidence suggests that the temporal relationship between these behaviors may be bidirectional. Shared functions and risk factors may explain why these behaviors often co-develop. At the same time, little is still known about the psychosocial consequences of comorbid NSSI and ED engagement, and there is a lack of intervention studies that target these behaviors simultaneously. Summary It is well-established that NSSI and ED behaviors frequently co-occur. The field should now turn to longitudinal designs to advance our understanding of the longer-term developmental and the shorter-term momentary relationship of these behaviors in daily life. Providing insight into these areas will help guide the deployment of evidence-based interventions that match the needs of clients who report comorbid NSSI and ED behaviors.

Maladaptive behaviours in adolescence and their associations with personality traits, emotion dysregulation and other clinical features in a sample of Italian students: a cross-sectional study

“…NSSI, binge eating, binge drinking, cannabis use, and risky sexual behaviours) in a sample of Italian community-dwelling students and to define different groups of adolescents, based on their engaging in types of maladaptive behaviours. Considering that it is well-established that NSSI and eating disordered behaviours frequently co-occur [ 26 ] we expected that in our sample NSSI and binge eating were distinguished by other types of maladaptive behaviours. Secondly, we aimed to evaluate the associations between adolescent groups engaging in different clusters of maladaptive behaviours and ED, depression, anxiety, impulsivity, trauma experiences and BPD related personality traits.…”

Lifetime prevalence and clinical correlates of nonsuicidal self-injury in youth inpatients with eating disorders: a retrospective chart review

“…EDs and NSSI share several risk factors and functions [ 18 ]. Both are self-destructive, have the onset and peak incidence during youth, are more prevalent in females, and share underlying functions of affect regulation and increased mortality risk by suicide [ 2 , 19 – 22 ].…”

Opening the Black Box of Daily Life in Nonsuicidal Self-injury Research: With Great Opportunity Comes Great Responsibility

“…Studies have also observed an increased risk of NSSI thoughts, urges, and behavior in the presence of high self-criticism and negative repetitive thinking [ 39 , 40 ], or low momentary self-efficacy to resist NSSI [ 35 ]. Despite this knowledge, future research is needed to clarify the relative importance of these situational, emotional, and cognitive factors at each stage of the NSSI process and their specificity in predicting NSSI compared to co-occurring behaviors (eg, eating disorder behaviors, suicidal thoughts) [ 27 , 41 ]. Worth mentioning in this context is that real-time monitoring also provides a unique opportunity to clarify the relationship with these comorbid behaviors in daily life [ 42 ], thereby offering meaningful information to further diagnostic understanding of NSSI.…”