THE EMOTION REGULATION EFFECT OF EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCED PAIN ON INDIVIDUALS WITH A HISTORY OF NON-SUICIDAL SELF-INJURY

Abstract

Individuals who engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) are at high risk for suicide, hospitalization, and many other serious life problems. Two studies have demonstrated that physical pain leads to a reduction in negative emotion, and two studies suggest that high levels of self-criticism and self-punishment may explain why physical pain helps these individuals regulate their emotions. This study examined the distraction hypothesis of NSSI, which states that NSSI functions to distract from negative thoughts about the self, and the self-punishment theory, which states that NSSI functions to confirm negative self-concepts. Participants were adult members of the community (N = 24) who reported engaging in NSSI at least twice in their lifetime, with the most recent NSSI occurring in the past year, and reported having a current treatment provider. Participants experienced two counter-balanced experimental procedures, the cold pressor pain induction task and a cognitive-tactile distraction task, each proceeded by a mood induction procedure. There were no statistically significant interactions between condition and time for shame, guilt, anxiety, and urges to punish the self, which suggests that pain may not uniquely contribute to the emotion regulation effect of NSSI beyond its distracting properties. The statistically insignificant interaction effects in this study do not support the hypothesis that confirmation of self-punishing beliefs leads to emotion relief, even though self-punishing beliefs may contribute to NSSI in other ways.

Keywords: non-suicidal self-injury, heart rate variability, shame, self-punishment