DIGEST - Volume 11, Issue 2

12 TPC Digest 13 TPC Digest | TPC Digest | TPC Digest Melissa J. Sitton, Tina Du Rocher Schudlich, Christina Byrne Psychosocial Prediction of Self-Injurious Behavior A Comparison of Two Populations T Numerous studies have examined self-injurious behavior (SIB) because of its clinical importance and increasing prevalence in society. Many of these studies have examined samples of individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD), wherein SIB is unfortunately common. Other studies have examined college students, who also display more SIB than the general population. However, few studies to date have examined both populations simultaneously to compare experiences of SIB. Additionally, past studies of predictors of SIB have tended to focus on psychological or social factors, without considering how these various elements might overlap to predict SIB. At this time, it is also unknown how psychosocial predictors of SIB may differ between populations of individuals who engage in SIB. Better understanding of how experiences and predictors of SIB may differ between populations would allow clinicians and service providers to better tailor specific prevention and intervention efforts for individual clients. The purpose of this study was to increase understanding of SIB in two populations: individuals with traits of BPD and college students. For the first sample, individuals seeking treatment for symptoms of BPD (i.e., the BPD-Tx sample) were recruited from a community-based clinic. For the second sample, college students (i.e., the student sample) were recruited from introductory psychology courses. All participants included in this study reported at least one experience of SIB in the past year. All participants completed a measure of their experiences of SIB, including a lifetime total amount of SIB and the intent of their acts of SIB (i.e., nonsuicidal, suicidal, or “ambivalent,” meaning neither strictly suicidal nor nonsuicidal). Participants also completed measures of current psychological distress, positive social support, and negative social interactions. We found that participants in the BPD-Tx sample engaged in more SIB over the course of their lifetime than participants in the student sample. Participants in the BPD-Tx sample also reported more nonsuicidal SIB and ambivalent SIB, but not more suicidal SIB (i.e., there was no statistical difference between the two samples in the number of past suicide attempts). The two samples also differed in reports of current psychological distress, positive social support, and negative social interactions. When we analyzed the psychosocial variables in the two samples together, we found that psychological distress and sample type (i.e., whether the individual was from the BPD-Tx sample or the student sample) predicted total lifetime SIB. We also found that these two significant predictors interacted, suggesting that psychological distress may relate to SIB differently for the two samples. After graphing this interaction, we found that psychological distress was more related to total lifetime SIB in the BPD-Tx sample than in the student sample. Based on these results, we concluded that psychological distress and population type (i.e., individuals with BPD or college students) are important factors to consider when assessing for SIB risk. More research is needed to determine the importance of social experiences in relation to psychological distress when assessing SIB risk in any population. Counselors in community-based clinics as well as in college counseling centers may consider implementing intervention programs that target psychological distress (e.g., dialectical behavior therapy), which may be beneficial for multiple populations. Melissa J. Sitton, MS, is a doctoral student at Southern Methodist University. Tina Du Rocher Schudlich, PhD, MHP, is a professor at Western Washington University. Christina Byrne, PhD, is an associate professor at Western Washington University. Correspondence may be addressed to Melissa J. Sitton, Department of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, P.O. Box 750442, Dallas, TX 75275-0442, msitton@smu.edu. Read full article and references: Sitton, M. J., Du Rocher Schudlich, T., & Byrne, C. (2021). Psychosocial prediction of self-injurious behavior: A comparison of two populations. The Professional Counselor , 11 (2), 218–232. doi: 10.15241/mjs.11.2.218