Changes in Negative Affect Following Pain (vs. Nonpainful) Stimulation in Individuals With and Without a History of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury

Theoretical models of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI; i.e., purposeful destruction of body tissue without suicidal intent) suggest that individuals engage in NSSI in order to regulate negative affect (NA). One limitation of the current research is that most studies using pain as a proxy of NSSI have failed to include a nonpainful stimuli control group. This study attempted to address this limitation by comparing the emotional response to painful (vs. nonpainful) heat stimulation in individuals with a history of NSSI (vs. no history of NSSI) following a negative mood induction. It was predicted that among individuals with a history of NSSI, pain would lead to larger reductions in NA than warm stimulation. Furthermore, it was predicted that this reduction would be larger than that of controls regardless of condition. The hypotheses received partial support, such that pain led to greater reductions in negative affect for individuals with a history of NSSI, but not compared to controls. Future research directions are discussed.