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Motives for Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in Individuals with Lifetime Depressive Disorders and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

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Abstract

Although researchers have identified a number of factors that may motivate individuals to engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), few studies have examined whether motives for NSSI differ as a function of psychiatric diagnosis. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to examine motives for lifetime NSSI among individuals with a history of psychiatric disorders associated with elevated rates of NSSI: depressive disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Young adults (N = 139) with a history of NSSI completed several diagnostic interviews and questionnaires, including a measure of lifetime NSSI motives. Results demonstrated that participants with (vs. without) a lifetime depressive disorder reported significantly lower levels of interpersonal influence motives for NSSI, and participants with (vs. without) lifetime PTSD reported significantly higher levels of emotional relief and feeling generation motives. Further, results revealed a significant interaction between lifetime depressive disorders and PTSD for interpersonal communication motives; specifically, whereas participants with lifetime diagnoses of both a depressive disorder and PTSD did not differ significantly in reported interpersonal communication motives from participants with neither diagnosis, those with lifetime PTSD but without a lifetime depressive disorder reported significantly higher levels of interpersonal communication motives than those without either diagnosis. Results suggest that a history of depression and PTSD (alone and in combination) may be associated with different motives for NSSI.

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Notes

  1. It is important to note that high rates of NSSI are also found among individuals with eating disorders (21.8%–32.7%; Cucchi et al. 2016). However, in this study we chose to focus only on depressive disorders and PTSD as we did not assess for the lifetime presence of eating disorders.

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Funding

This project was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Operating grant #222112), awarded to ALC and KLG.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Toledo, Mail Stop 948, 2801 West Bancroft Street, Toledo, OH, 43606, USA

    Courtney N. Forbes, Matthew T. Tull, Julia R. Richmond & Kim L. Gratz

  2. Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

    Alexander L. Chapman

  3. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA

    Katherine L. Dixon-Gordon

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  1. Courtney N. Forbes
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Correspondence to Courtney N. Forbes.

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Courtney N. Forbes, Matthew T. Tull, Julia R. Richmond, Alexander L. Chapman, Katherine L. Dixon-Gordon and Kim L. Gratz declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Forbes, C.N., Tull, M.T., Richmond, J.R. et al. Motives for Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in Individuals with Lifetime Depressive Disorders and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 41, 652–661 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-019-09739-w

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