Emotion Dysregulation in the Structure of Self-Injurious Behavior

We present the results of the research of the link between emotion regulation and self-injurious behavior. The sample consisted of 706 respondents aged 14—35 (467 female). Methods: Emotion Dysregulation Questionnaire (Polskaya, Razvaliaeva, 2017), Reasons for Self-Injury Scale (Polskaya, 2017), Coping Behavior Strategies Questionnaire (Vasserman et al., 2008), Psychological Mindedness Scale (Novikova, Kornilova, 2014), Positive and Negative Affect Scale (Osin, 2012). Results: we found out that self-injury is more frequent in females, self-injury risk is most severe at 14—21 years. Significant relationships were yielded for self-injurious behavior, emotion dysregulation, hindered awareness and access to emotions, and coping strategies — confrontation, avoidance, self-control, and responsibility. Regression analysis showed that avoidance as a strategy of emotion dysregulation mediates the influence of negative affect on self-injurious behavior; another form of emotion dysregulation — rumination — predicts the increase of negative and the decrease of positive affect. Conclusions: emotion dysregulation underlies the cycle of negative affect aggravation that leads to self-injury. Adolescence and youth are the most dangerous ages when self-injury is used for negative affect regulation.