Abstract
Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is defined as the deliberate damaging of one’s own body, occurring with no suicidal intent. OBJECTIVE: Relationships between emotion regulation, distress tolerance, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), mindfulness, and sexual orientation were examined among a sample of female college students. METHODS: 143 participants (mean age = 21.6 years) completed an online survey consisting of measures assessing NSSI (Functional Assessment of Self-Mutilation, FASM); emotional regulation (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, DERS); distress tolerance (Distress Tolerance Scale, DTS); mindfulness (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, FFMQ); and demographics. 15.4% were sexual minorities. RESULTS and DISCUSSION: Of 143 total participants, 43 (30%) reported having engaged in NSSI during the past year. There was a wide range of the number of times that they engaged in self-injury (1-19 times), with most participants self-injuring 4-5 times during the previous year. The most frequent methods of self-injury were picking wounds, cutting skin, hitting self on purpose, biting self, and scraping skin. Mindfulness was negatively correlated with frequency of NSSI (r = -.335; p < .001), indicating that those with a greater history of self-injury reported lower mindfulness scores. Among self-injurers, five of the six emotional dysregulation subscales (Non-acceptance, Goals, Impulsiveness, Strategies, and Clarity) were significantly positively correlated with frequency of NSSI. Self-injurers reported a lower ability to tolerate distress (M = 42.4; M = 51; p = .41), indicated lower levels of mindfulness (M = 111.2; M = 124.4, p = .007), and were more highly emotionally dysregulated (M = 96.8; M = 79.7, p = .02) than their non-injuring peers. Using hierarchical regression, we tested our proposed hypotheses. For hypothesis 1, we investigated the relationship between sexual orientation and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). There was a significant predicted relationship between sexual orientation, in particular bisexuals, and NSSI (p < .001). For hypothesis 2, we investigated the relationship between the dependent variables and NSSI. There was a significant predicted relationship between mindfulness, distress tolerance, and emotion dysregulation while controlling for sexual orientation (p = .001). Hypothesis 3 investigated interactions between distress tolerance, emotion dysregulation, mindfulness and sexual orientation. The model was statistically significant (p = .003), but only the interactions for sexual orientation and distress tolerance (p = .002) and sexual orientation and emotion dysregulation (p = .034) were significant. Overall, this study offers guidance on factors that are associated with self-injurious behavior during the college years. Bisexual orientation highly influenced the development of past year NSSI as well as higher levels of emotion dysregulation and lower levels of mindfulness and distress tolerance. Increased negative mood states created by the perceived discrimination of being a sexual minority may contribute to a decreased ability to tolerate distress. These findings demonstrate the importance of investigating ways to help young adults and sexual minorities develop healthy coping strategies and manage their experience of stress and emotion dysregulation. Future research should further explore the role of mindfulness as a clinical tool that may benefit this population.