Riding the emotional roller coaster: The role of distress tolerance in non-suicidal self-injury

Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) is the deliberate damage to one's bodily tissue without suicidal intent. The Emotional Cascade Model proposes NSSI functions as a distraction from ‘cascades’ of intense affect and rumination. Low distress tolerance is one factor thought to potentially amplify the...

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Main Authors: Slabbert, A., Hasking, Penelope, Boyes, Mark
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier Ireland Ltd 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71619
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author Slabbert, A.
Hasking, Penelope
Boyes, Mark
author_facet Slabbert, A.
Hasking, Penelope
Boyes, Mark
author_sort Slabbert, A.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) is the deliberate damage to one's bodily tissue without suicidal intent. The Emotional Cascade Model proposes NSSI functions as a distraction from ‘cascades’ of intense affect and rumination. Low distress tolerance is one factor thought to potentially amplify these cascades but has yet to be empirically tested. Using the Emotional Cascade Model as a framework, we investigated the moderating roles of rumination and distress tolerance in the relationship between affect intensity and NSSI. A sample of 400 university students between the ages of 17 and 62 years (M = 21.02, SD = 5.32) completed well-validated measures of NSSI, affect intensity, rumination, and distress tolerance. As expected, rumination was associated with history of NSSI but only among individuals who reported high levels of distress tolerance. Further, affect intensity was positively associated with NSSI frequency, but only at low levels of rumination and distress tolerance. These results provide promising insight into potential prevention and intervention initiatives that may target rumination and distress tolerance to reduce the likelihood and frequency of self-injury.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-716192019-07-02T05:49:39Z Riding the emotional roller coaster: The role of distress tolerance in non-suicidal self-injury Slabbert, A. Hasking, Penelope Boyes, Mark Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) is the deliberate damage to one's bodily tissue without suicidal intent. The Emotional Cascade Model proposes NSSI functions as a distraction from ‘cascades’ of intense affect and rumination. Low distress tolerance is one factor thought to potentially amplify these cascades but has yet to be empirically tested. Using the Emotional Cascade Model as a framework, we investigated the moderating roles of rumination and distress tolerance in the relationship between affect intensity and NSSI. A sample of 400 university students between the ages of 17 and 62 years (M = 21.02, SD = 5.32) completed well-validated measures of NSSI, affect intensity, rumination, and distress tolerance. As expected, rumination was associated with history of NSSI but only among individuals who reported high levels of distress tolerance. Further, affect intensity was positively associated with NSSI frequency, but only at low levels of rumination and distress tolerance. These results provide promising insight into potential prevention and intervention initiatives that may target rumination and distress tolerance to reduce the likelihood and frequency of self-injury. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71619 10.1016/j.psychres.2018.08.061 Elsevier Ireland Ltd restricted
spellingShingle Slabbert, A.
Hasking, Penelope
Boyes, Mark
Riding the emotional roller coaster: The role of distress tolerance in non-suicidal self-injury
title Riding the emotional roller coaster: The role of distress tolerance in non-suicidal self-injury
title_full Riding the emotional roller coaster: The role of distress tolerance in non-suicidal self-injury
title_fullStr Riding the emotional roller coaster: The role of distress tolerance in non-suicidal self-injury
title_full_unstemmed Riding the emotional roller coaster: The role of distress tolerance in non-suicidal self-injury
title_short Riding the emotional roller coaster: The role of distress tolerance in non-suicidal self-injury
title_sort riding the emotional roller coaster: the role of distress tolerance in non-suicidal self-injury
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71619