Stressful Experiences, Emotion Dysregulation, and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury among University Students

Ewing, Lexi; Hamza, Chloe A.; Willoughby, Teena

doi:10.1007/s10964-019-01025-y

Cited by 44 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…In a similar vein, Nock's (2009) integrative model of NSSI posits that stressful life events can undermine an individual's ability to adaptively regulate their emotions, which in turn can lead to NSSI to reduce or modify internal states. In support of these mediation hypotheses, stressful life events have been shown to predict more ER difficulties, which in turn predict more DSH ( Ewing et al., 2019 ; Richmond et al., 2017 ; Sim et al., 2009 ). On the other hand, diathesis-stress models propose that pre-existing vulnerabilities (e.g., ER difficulties) interact with stress to predict DSH ( Liu et al., 2016 ; Van Heeringen, 2012 ; Williams, 1997 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Deliberate self-harm in adolescents during COVID-19: The roles of pandemic-related stress, emotion regulation difficulties, and social distancing

Robillard

Turner

Ames

et al. 2021

Psychiatry Research

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The objective of this study was to conduct an ecologically valid test of etiological models of deliberate self-harm (DSH) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a sample of Canadian adolescents, we investigated: (1) the association between COVID-19-related stress and DSH; (2) whether emotion regulation (ER) difficulties mediated/moderated this association, including whether these effects differed by age; and (3) whether the mediating/moderating effects of ER difficulties were stronger among socially distanced youth. Canadian adolescents (N = 809) aged 12-18 were recruited on social media and completed an online survey. COVID-19-related stress was associated with recent DSH. Nonacceptance of emotional responses and limited access to ER strategies fully mediated this association. The indirect effect through nonacceptance of emotional responses was stronger among more socially distanced youth, whereas the indirect effect through limited access to ER strategies was stronger among older and more socially distanced youth. COVID-19-related stress and ER difficulties did not interact to predict DSH, nor did age or social distancing moderate these interactions. These results align with etiological models proposing central roles for stress and ER difficulties in DSH. Furthermore, this study underscores a need to support adolescents, particularly older teens with reduced in-person interactions, in adaptively coping with pandemic-related stress.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Deliberate self-harm in adolescents during COVID-19: The roles of pandemic-related stress, emotion regulation difficulties, and social distancing

Robillard

Turner

Ames

et al. 2021

Psychiatry Research

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“…Two studies provide indirect evidence of this possibility. In a sample of university students, there was a reciprocal association between stressful experiences and NSSI across two years (Ewing, Hamza, & Willoughby, 2019). In a sample of adolescents, parental criticism predicted NSSI 6 months later, and vice versa (You et al, 2017).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the short term NSSI is an effective but maladaptive stress‐coping strategy (Ewing et al, 2019; Marshall, Tilton‐Weaver, & Stattin, 2013). Adolescents may select NSSI as a way of coping with heightened stress in the face of rejection.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non‐suicidal self‐injury in adolescence: Longitudinal evidence of recursive associations with adolescent depression and parental rejection

Zhu

Chen

2020

Journal of Adolescence

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Introduction: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) has been acknowledged as a major public health concern among adolescents. However, the complex association between parental rejection and NSSI is not entirely understood and the existing literature does not address the underlying mechanism of adolescent depressive symptoms in explaining the process. Methods: Three waves of data (called T1, T2 and T3) were collected 6 months apart, between November 2018 and 2019, in a sample of 1987 Chinese adolescents (56.1% males; ages 10 to 14, M = 12.32, SD = 0.53). Two separate autoregressive cross-lagged models were used to examine the bidirectional association between parental rejection and NSSI as well as the role of depressive symptoms in bidirectional mediation. Results: There was strong evidence of bidirectional effects between parental rejection and NSSI at both 6-month intervals. Parental rejection at T1/T2 positively predicted NSSI at T2/T3, and, vice versa, NSSI at T1/T2 positively predicted parental rejection at T2/T3. Furthermore, we found that the reciprocal association between parent rejection and NSSI was mediated by adolescent depressive symptoms. Conclusions: The present study found reciprocal associations between parental rejection and NSSI, and further demonstrated that the bidirectional process was mediated by depressive symptoms. The indings from this study are of great interest as they help to inform the development of future prevention and intervention strategies for NSSI.Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is deined as direct and deliberate bodily self-harm in the absence of suicidal intent, commonly enacted by self-cutting, self-hitting or self-burning (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). NSSI typically occurs for the irst time around mid-adolescence (Gandhi et al., 2018) and the lifetime prevalence of this behavior is consistently estimated to be approximately 17% among community adolescents (Muehlenkamp, Claes, Havertape, & Plener, 2012;Swannell, Martin, Page, Hasking, & St John, 2014). In recent years, NSSI has been increasingly acknowledged as a major public health concern among adolescents due to its association with signiicant psychological morbidity, including psychological disorders and future suicidal behaviors (

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“…In a similar vein, Nock's (2009) integrative model of NSSI posits that stressful life events can undermine an individual's ability to adaptively regulate their emotions, which in turn can lead to NSSI to reduce or modify internal states. In support of these mediation hypotheses, stressful life events have been shown to predict more ER difficulties, which in turn predict more DSH (Ewing et al, 2019;Richmond et al, 2017;Sim et al, 2009). On the other hand, diathesis-stress models propose that pre-existing vulnerabilities (e.g., ER difficulties) interact with stress to predict DSH (Liu et al, 2016;van Heeringen, 2012;Williams, 1997).…”

Section: Emotion Regulation Difficulties As Mediators and Moderatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deliberate Self-Harm in Adolescents During COVID-19: The Roles of Pandemic-Related Stress, Emotion Regulation Difficulties, and Social Distancing

Robillard¹,

Turner²,

Ames³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Objectives: We used data from a large sample of Canadian adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic to conduct an ecologically valid test of etiological models of deliberate self-harm (DSH). Specifically, the study objectives were to: (1) investigate the association between COVID-19-related stress and DSH, (2) test whether dimensions of emotion regulation (ER) difficulties mediated and moderated this association, including whether these effects differed by age, and (3) examine whether the mediating and moderating effects of ER difficulties were stronger for youth who engaged in more social distancing. Methods: 809 Canadian adolescents aged 12 to 18 were recruited via social media websites and completed online surveys from June 17 to July 31, 2020. Results: COVID-19-related stress was positively associated with recent DSH. Lack of emotional clarity, nonacceptance of emotional responses, and limited access to ER strategies mediated the association between COVID-19-related stress and DSH. The magnitude of these indirect effects did not differ by age. Although COVID-19-related stress and ER difficulties did not interact to predict DSH, there was a significant three-way interaction between lack of emotional awareness, COVID-19-related stress, and age. Finally, the indirect effect of COVID-19-related stress on DSH through limited access to ER strategies was stronger for youth who engaged in more social distancing. Conclusions: Overall, these findings align with etiological models that propose central roles for stress and ER difficulties in the development of DSH. Findings also underscore a need to support adolescents, particularly those with reduced in-person social contact, in adaptively coping with stress generated by pandemics.

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Stressful Experiences, Emotion Dysregulation, and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury among University Students

Cited by 44 publications

References 70 publications

Deliberate self-harm in adolescents during COVID-19: The roles of pandemic-related stress, emotion regulation difficulties, and social distancing

Deliberate self-harm in adolescents during COVID-19: The roles of pandemic-related stress, emotion regulation difficulties, and social distancing

Non‐suicidal self‐injury in adolescence: Longitudinal evidence of recursive associations with adolescent depression and parental rejection

Deliberate Self-Harm in Adolescents During COVID-19: The Roles of Pandemic-Related Stress, Emotion Regulation Difficulties, and Social Distancing

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