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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychopathology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1309187

The smallest things make me emotional! Emotion reactivity in nonsuicidal self-injury: Trait, state and physiological differences

Provisionally accepted
Melissa S. Jankowski Melissa S. Jankowski 1,2Aubrey J. Legasse Aubrey J. Legasse 2*Victoria Quinones Victoria Quinones 3Meaghan L. Delcourt Meaghan L. Delcourt 4Emily A. Haigh Emily A. Haigh 5
  • 1 State Forensic Service, Augusta, United States
  • 2 University of Maine, Orono, Maine, United States
  • 3 Lifespan, Providence, Rhode Island, United States
  • 4 University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, United States
  • 5 University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: The current study sought to clarify the role of emotion reactivity in non-suicidal selfinjury (NSSI) by examining three forms of emotion reactivity (physiological and self-reported trait and state reactivity) among a sample of young adults with or without a history of NSSI.Materials and Methods: Seventy-six adults (Mage = 20.97, 73.7% female) participated in a semi-structured clinical interview to determine NSSI history and completed a measure of trait emotion reactivity. Participants then provided state emotion reactivity ratings before and after a social rejection task, recovery period, and positive mood induction while physiological data was continuously recorded.Although individuals with a history of NSSI perceived themselves to be more emotionally reactive, these participants were not more physiologically reactive, nor were their state reactivity ratings significantly different from individuals without a history of NSSI.Discussion: Results suggest increased emotionality in response to a stressor is within normal bounds and not unique to individuals with a history of NSSI, and provide implications for future research on the etiology and treatment of NSSI.

    Keywords: Non-suicidal self-injury, Emotion Reactivity, physiological measurement, state-trait measurement, Cyberball The smallest things make me emotional! Emotion reactivity in non-suicidal self-injury: Trait, state and physiological differences

    Received: 07 Oct 2023; Accepted: 23 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Jankowski, Legasse, Quinones, Delcourt and Haigh. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Aubrey J. Legasse, University of Maine, Orono, 04469, Maine, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.