Date Thesis Awarded

4-2024

Access Type

Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only

Degree Name

Bachelors of Arts (BA)

Department

Psychology

Advisor

Adrian Bravo

Committee Members

Xiaowen Xu

Reya Farber

Abstract

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a prevalent form of behavioral dysregulation among adolescent populations, specifically those with depressive symptoms. This paper expands the study of NSSI and personality variables by testing a moderated-mediation model in which cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression act as mediators within the relationship between depressive symptoms and NSSI and five impulsivity-like traits act as moderators of the link between depression and emotion regulation. Participants (n = 1,847) were college students from 5 universities across the United States, mostly female (60.5%), white (66.2%), and with a mean age of 19.57 (SD = 2.79). The analytic sample included those who responded yes/no to past-year NSSI, while the subsample consisted of those who endorsed one or more methods of NSSI in that time frame. Analyses were conducted via Hayes’ PROCESS v4.0 for SPSS. Within our models, depression showed significant direct effects on both NSSI engagement and NSSI severity, though emotion regulation factors did not significantly mediate these relationships. Exploratory mediation models for impulsivity-like traits revealed that negative urgency emerged as a key mediator in the link between depression and both NSSI engagement and severity. Within the subsample, positive urgency was also a significant mediator, such that positive urgency partly explains the link between higher depression and greater NSSI severity. These outcomes elucidate the relationships between impulsivity-like traits, emotion regulation, and self-injury. Findings suggest potential for preventative work in the clinical treatment of depression as it relates to NSSI.

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Available for download on Friday, May 09, 2025

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