Historical non-suicidal self-injury and current coping strategies: The role of emotion regulation

Bradley, Hannah, Orchard, Faith and Matcham, Faith (2025) Historical non-suicidal self-injury and current coping strategies: The role of emotion regulation. Personality and Mental Health, 19 (4). ISSN 1932-8621

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Abstract

Objective: Supporting individuals to develop adaptive coping strategies is critical to improve health and wellbeing. A history of non-suicidal self-harm (NSSI) is linked with increased risk of maladaptive coping strategies. We aimed to identify whether emotion regulation (ER) mediated the relationship between historical NSSI behaviors and coping strategy use in adults from the general population. Method: Participants reported their lifetime frequency of NSSI then completed self-report measures of emotion regulation, maladaptive coping strategy use (behavioral disengagement, self-blame, and substance use), and adaptive coping strategy use (active coping, instrumental support use, and emotional support use). Regression analyses investigated relationships between historical NSSI and coping strategies, with mediation analysis testing for the mediating role of ER. Results: A total of 303 individuals participated: 180 with a history of NSSI and 123 without. Results indicated that poor emotion regulation mediated the relationship between having a history of NSSI and the use of maladaptive coping strategies; however, there was no notable association between adaptive coping strategies and historical NSSI. Conclusions: These findings highlight the necessity for ER development in people with a history of NSSI and suggest important avenues for future research including exploring the role of ER to support NSSI cessation.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Data Availability Statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Funding information: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 3 - good health and well-being,1* ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/good_health_and_well_being
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Psychology
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Mental Health and Social Care (fka Lifespan Health)
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	20 Aug 2025 11:30
Last Modified:	27 Aug 2025 15:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/100159
DOI:	10.1002/pmh.70035

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