The present study examined presence of sexual assault history and perfectionism (viz., positive strivings & evaluative concerns) as predictors of self-destructive behaviors (viz., NSSI & suicidal behaviors) in a sample of 287 women college students. Results obtained from conducting a series of hierarchical regression analyses indicated several notable patterns. Sexual assault history was a consistent predictor of both NSSI and suicidal behaviors. Moreover, the inclusion of perfectionism was also found to consistently predict additional unique variance in NSSI and suicidal behaviors, even after accounting for sexual assault history. These patterns remained largely unchanged even after accounting for shared variance between NSSI and suicidal behaviors. Within the perfectionism set, evaluative concerns emerged as the most consistent unique predictor of both indices of self-destructive behavior. Finally, we did not find evidence for a significant Positive Strivings × Evaluative Concerns interaction effect in our analyses. Overall, our findings indicate that beyond the presence of sexual assault history, perfectionism remains an important predictor of self-destructive behaviors in women college students.

No description available.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), defined as the deliberate damaging or destruction of body tissue without intent to die, are common behaviors amongst youth. Although prior work has shown heightened response to negative outcomes and dampened response to positive outcomes across multiple methods, including behavioral and physiological measures, little is known about the neural processes involved in NSSI. This study examined associations between NSSI engagement and responsivity to rewards and losses in youth with and without a lifetime engagement in NSSI. We employed a task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study to examine differences between regions of interest (ROIs; ventral and dorsal striatum [VS, DS], anterior cingulate cortex [ACC], orbitofrontal cortex [OFC], ventrolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortex [vlPFC; vmPFC], and insula) and whole-brain connectivity (utilizing bilateral DS, mPFC, and insula seed ROIs) in youth with and without NSSI. We used two reward tasks, in order to examine differences between groups across domains of reward (i.e., monetary and social). Additionally, we examined the specificity of the associations by controlling for dimensional levels of related psychopathology (i.e., aggression and depression). Results from the current study found that NSSI was associated with decreased activation following monetary gains in all ROIs. Further, these differences remained significant when controlling for comorbid psychopathology, including symptoms of aggression and depression. Finally, exploratory connectivity analyses found that NSSI was associated with differential connectivity between regions including the DS, vmPFC, insula, parietal operculum cortex, supramarginal gyrus, cerebellum, and central opercular cortex. Weakened connectivity between these regions could suggest deficits in inhibitory control of emotions in individuals with NSSI, as well as dysfunction in pain processing in individuals with NSSI, whereby these individuals experience pain as more salient or rewarding than individuals without NSSI. Although results did not support our hypotheses, findings suggest disrupted reward processes in youth with NSSI, contributing to our understanding of the role that reward processes may play in NSSI, in the engagement and reinforcement of these behaviors. We also conducted an extensive systematic review of the studies indexing neural structure and function in NSSI, summarizing the literature on the neurobiological correlates of several psychological processes implicated in NSSI engagement, including emotion processes, pain processes, executive processes, social processes, and reward processes. Results of the review highlighted the neural regions most consistently associated with NSSI, including the amygdala, insula, frontal, prefrontal, and orbitofrontal cortices, and the anterior cingulate, dorsal striatum, and ventral striatum. Additionally, data showed that NSSI is associated with greater emotional responses in negative situations, poorer down-regulation of negative emotions, and poorer inhibitory control over impulsive behaviors. Overall, findings suggest that NSSI is associated with maladaptive coping, and that this down-regulation of negative emotion resulting from NSSI may be experienced as rewarding and may serve to reinforce engagement in these behaviors. Finally, this review highlighted the importance of standardizing the methods of indexing neural structure and function in NSSI, specifically in terms of how NSSI is categorized, which comorbid disorders are examined, and how neuroimaging data are collected and analyzed, so that research in this area is comparable and reproducible. / Psychology

Bakgrund: Psykisk ohälsa är ett stort folkhälsoproblem i världen och i Sverige. I många fall är det sjuksköterskor inom akutsjukvården som erbjuder den inledande vården för personer med självskadebeteende. Både sjuksköterskor och patienter upplever att akutsjukvården är bristfällig och att akutsjukvårdsmiljön är dåligt anpassad för patientgruppen. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av att möta personer med självskadebeteenden inom akutsjukvården. Metod: En litteraturstudie genomfördes med en induktiv ansats. Resultat: Tio vetenskapliga resultatartiklar användes i studien. Tre huvudkategorier identifierades: känslor, brister inom vården, kompetensbrist. Sjuksköterskor som arbetar inom akutsjukvården känner att de inte har tillräcklig utbildning, vana och erfarenhet för att vårda personer med självskadebeteende. Konklusion: Träning, utbildning och praktiska strategier krävs för att personer med självskadebeteende ska bemötas med medkänsla, respekt och värdighet inom vården. / Background: Mental illness is a big public health problem in the world and in Sweden. In many cases it’s the emergency nurses who provides the initial care for persons with self-harm behavior. Both nurses and patients experience deficiency in the emergency care and that the emergency care environment isn’t suited for this type of care. Aim: The aim was to describe nurses´ experiences of encountering persons with self-harming behavior within the emergency care. Method: A literature study was conducted with an inductive approach. Result: Ten scientific result articles were used in the study. Three main categories were identified: emotions, deficiency in healthcare, lack of competence. Nurses who are working in the emergency care feels that they don’t have enough education, practice and experience to be able to provide the best care for persons with self-harm behavior. Conclusion: Training, education and practical strategies are required for persons with self-harming behavior to be treated with compassion, respect and dignity.

No description available.

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI; i.e., the deliberate destruction of one’s own bodily tissue without suicidal intent and for reasons not socially sanctioned) is prevalent and associated with clinically serious consequences. There is a need for evidence-based, stand-alone treatments for this behavior as it presents across the full range of psychiatric disorders. Developing time-efficient and cost-effective interventions for NSSI has proven difficult given that the core components of treatment remain largely unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the specific effects on NSSI of mindful emotion awareness training and cognitive reappraisal, two transdiagnostic treatment strategies that directly address the functional processes that often maintain self-injury (i.e., relief or escape from aversive thoughts or feelings). Using a counterbalanced, combined series (multiple baseline and phase change) single-case experimental design, the unique and combined impact of these two four-week interventions was evaluated among diagnostically heterogeneous, self-injuring adults (N = 10; mean age = 21.3, range = 18 to 30 years). Hypotheses were that each intervention would produce clinically meaningful reductions in NSSI; adding the alternative intervention would have additive benefit for those who did not respond to the initial intervention alone; and reductions in NSSI would be maintained over a four-week follow-up phase. Results showed that 8 of 10 participants demonstrated clinically meaningful reductions in NSSI by the follow-up phase; six participants responded to one intervention alone, whereas adding the alternative intervention was associated with additive benefit for two participants. Group-based analyses indicated a statistically significant effect of study phase on NSSI (p < .001), with fewer NSSI urges and acts occurring after the interventions were introduced. The interventions were also associated with moderate to large reductions in anxiety (d = 0.89 – 1.09), depression (d = 0.79 – 1.09), and interference caused by symptoms (d = 0.61), and with improvements in skills-based mechanisms: mindful emotion awareness (d = 1.44) and reappraisal (d = 1.30). The results suggest that increasing mindful emotion awareness and cognitive reappraisal may be two key therapeutic strategies for reducing NSSI. Transdiagnostic, emotion-focused interventions delivered in time-limited formats can serve as practical yet powerful treatment approaches, especially for lower-risk self-injuring individuals.

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Previous research has demonstrated associations between deliberate self-harm (DSH) and perfectionism, although most of that research used retrospective self-report measures of DSH, which are prone to various cognitive biases. Although perfectionism has been associated with alcohol abuse, no research has examined how alcohol intoxication may moderate the relation between perfectionism and DSH. The aims of this experimental study were to determine if perfectionism is associated with a laboratory analogue of DSH (the Self-Aggression Paradigm) and examine the role of alcohol intoxication as a potential moderator. Using archival data, blood alcohol content (BAC) was manipulated by randomly assigning participants to reach one of four target BACs. Results indicated that perfectionism was not associated with DSH (mean self-administered shock or number of “severe” shocks). There was no interaction between perfectionism and BAC. These findings are discussed within the context of the perfectionism measure’s psychometric characteristics and the strength of previous research findings.