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Culture, Family Problems, Emotion Dysregulation and Nonsuicidal Self-injury: Differences among Taiwanese and Americans

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Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to examine the mediating role of emotion dysregulation in the association between family relational problems and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) in a sample of American and Taiwanese college students. The current study also tested whether this mediation model was moderated by culture. A total of 723 college students (324 Americans, 399 Taiwanese) completed questionnaires assessing family relational problems, emotion dysregulation and NSSI. Results revealed that emotion dysregulation partially mediated the association between family relational problems and NSSI and this indirect effect was moderated by culture, such that the association between family relational problems and emotion dysregulation was stronger for U.S. than Taiwanese college students. The findings contribute to our understanding of the role of culture in crucial factors for NSSI and highlight the necessity of considering cultural context in prevention and intervention programs for NSSI.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This research was supported in part by the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan (Grant No. MOST 108-2410-H-031-004).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Soochow University, Taipei City, Taiwan

    Yun-Jy Yeh

  2. Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, USA

    William Tsai

  3. Department of Psychology, National Cheng-Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan

    Jyun-Hong Chen

  4. Department of Psychology, California State University San Marcos, San Marcos, USA

    Sasha Kimel

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Correspondence to Yun-Jy Yeh.

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Yeh, YJ., Tsai, W., Chen, JH. et al. Culture, Family Problems, Emotion Dysregulation and Nonsuicidal Self-injury: Differences among Taiwanese and Americans. Curr Psychol 43, 3514–3522 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04600-6

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