Citation

Nester MS, Brand BL, Schielke HJ, Kumar S. Eur. J. Psychotraumatol. 2022; 13(1): e2031592.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, The Author(s), Publisher Co-action Publishing)

DOI

10.1080/20008198.2022.2031592

PMID

35145611

PMCID

PMC8823688

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Dissociative disorder (DD) patients report high rates of self-injury. Previous studies have found dissociation and self-injury to be related to emotional distress. To the best of our knowledge, however, the link between emotion dysregulation and self-injury has not yet been examined within a DD population.

OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated relations between emotion dysregulation, dissociation, and self-injury in DD patients, and explored patterns of emotion dysregulation difficulties among DD patients with and without recent histories of self-injury.

METHOD: We utilized linear and logistic regressions and t-test statistical methods to examine data from 235 patient-clinician dyads enrolled in the TOP DD Network Study.

RESULTS: Analyses revealed emotion dysregulation was associated with heightened dissociative symptoms and greater endorsement of self-injury in the past six months. Further, patients with a history of self-injury in the past six months reported more severe emotion dysregulation and dissociation than those without recent self-injury. As a group, DD patients reported the greatest difficulty engaging in goal-directed activities when distressed, followed by lack of emotional awareness and nonacceptance of emotional experiences. DD patients demonstrated similar patterns of emotion dysregulation difficulties irrespective of recent self-injury status.

CONCLUSIONS: Results support recommendations to strengthen emotion regulation skills as a means to decrease symptoms of dissociation and self-injury in DD patients.

Language: en

Keywords

non-suicidal self-injury; Self-injury; dissociation; dissociative disorder; emotion dysregulation; emotion regulation