Perceived Effectiveness of NSSI in Predicting Next-Day Ability to Resist Suicide and Next-Day Urges

Abstract

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI; injuring oneself without intent to die) is prevalent among college students. Many report using NSSI as a coping mechanism, including managing suicidal thoughts and urges. Due to the coping-regulatory effects of NSSI for individuals, perceptions of NSSI coping effectiveness may relate to increased ability to resist attempting suicide. This study aimed to examine individuals’ perceived effectiveness of NSSI on the ability to resist suicidal thoughts and urges the next day. 132 participants with a recent history of NSSI and suicidal ideation completed a daily diary protocol assessing engagement in NSSI, perceived effectiveness of the NSSI, suicidal urges and the ability to resist suicide attempts. Multi-level dynamic structural equation analyses will be conducted with individual responses mean-centered to capture within-person differences across days. It’s anticipated that on days participants perceive their NSSI as effective, they will report lower suicide urges and greater ability to resist attempting suicide the next day. This would support the role of NSSI being a coping mechanism and suggests suicide risk may increase if NSSI effectiveness lessens over time. Additional clinical implications of the results will be discussed.