The unique relationship between childhood sexual abuse, self‐injury and suicide ideation: The mediating role of emotion dysregulation

Abstract

Child sexual abuse (CSA) has serious short-term and long-term effects, including non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidal ideation (SI). One possible thread linking CSA to NSSI and suicide risk is emotion dysregulation. The current study assessed whether facets of emotion dysregulation mediated relations of NSSI behaviours and functions, and SI. Participants (N = 121; Mean age = 18.69, agerange 18-22; 78 per cent female), college students with a history of childhood trauma, completed an online survey. Results indicated that facets of emotion dysregulation (i.e. clarity, non-acceptance) mediated the relationship between CSA and SI. CSA was associated with automatic negative reinforcement, social negative and social positive reinforcement NSSI functions, but was not associated with NSSI behaviours. Emotion dysregulation facets did not mediate the relationship between CSA and NSSI functions. Findings highlight the need to help CSA survivors have clarity and acceptance of emotional experiences to reduce SI risk. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. K E Y W O R D S childhood sexual abuse, non-suicidal self-injury, suicide risk Key Practitioner Messages• Skill and knowledge development on emotion dysregulation related to nonacceptance and lack of clarity around emotional experiences may mitigate risk for suicidal ideation. • Providers should screen for a history of childhood traumatic events, including childhood sexual abuse for young adults who present with NSSI behaviours and suicidal ideation. • It may be helpful for practitioners to examine reasons for NSSI to help their patients with connecting their thoughts, feelings and NSSI behaviours.

The Natural Language Processing in Etiology Distinguishing Suicidal Ideation (SI) and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) on Social Media

“…Another line of research highlights external stressors and life events as a latent variables that contribute to SI and NSSI, such as childhood maltreatment [42], trauma history (e.g. interpersonal [43] and veterans [44]), loneliness (SI: [45,46], NSSI: [32]), interpersonal difficulties (e.g.…”