4 - (IOP 8) Strengths-based Psychological Predictors of Nonsuicidal Self-injury Among University Students: A Cross-national Study

Background: The literature on the etiology of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) has been largely deficit-focused, often describing deficits in indices of intrapersonal and interpersonal functioning (such as emotion regulation difficulties) as antecedents of NSSI. However, the potential added value of similarly applying a strengths-based approach to the study of NSSI etiology has been increasingly underscored in the literature as these strengths can be leveraged to support healing, recovery, and growth among those with lived experience. Nevertheless, our understanding of the role of strengths-based psychological variables in relation to NSSI remains lacking. The present study thus explored the direct and indirect (through emotion regulation difficulties) protective effects of positive psychological variables (i.e., mindfulness, self-compassion, optimism, and resilience) on the likelihood of reporting past-year NSSI engagement in a cross-national sample of university students.

Methods: Participants were 861 university students residing in Belgium (n=320), Canada (n=136), and Australia (n=406) who completed an online survey at a single time point assessing their mindfulness, self-compassion, optimism, resilience, emotion regulation difficulties, and past-year NSSI. A logistic mediation analysis was conducted as well as a multi-group analysis to determine whether integrating country into the model would significantly impact model fit.

Results: The fit of the logistic mediation model did not differ when country was included in the model, suggesting that country did not moderate effects. Greater mindfulness, self-compassion, optimism, and resilience were all indirectly associated with a lower likelihood of reporting past-year NSSI through improved emotion regulation. Notably, greater self-compassion and optimism were also directly associated with a decreased likelihood of reporting past-year NSSI, independent of emotion regulation difficulties.

Implications: Findings lend cross-national support for the protective roles of mindfulness, self-compassion, optimism, and resilience in relation to NSSI among university students, and for the mediating role of emotion regulation difficulties in these relations. Results also underscore the distinct contributions of self-compassion and optimism in predicting past-year NSSI, independent of those explained by emotion regulation difficulties, shedding light on a strengths-based model for the prediction of NSSI that extends beyond emotion regulation difficulties. Limitations of the present study include its cross-sectional design, which precludes temporal and causal inferences, its use of convenience samples of university students who identify predominantly as women, and its focus on Western nations, limiting the generalizability of findings beyond Western contexts. Nevertheless, findings may inform future intensive longitudinal research on proximal protective factors for NSSI engagement, similarly to how the deficit-focused literature on the etiology of NSSI has informed current research on proximal risk factors. Findings may also be leveraged in therapeutic contexts to support healing and growth among individuals with a recent history of NSSI.