Physiological arousal, distress tolerance, and social problem-solving deficits among adolescent self-injurers. |
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Authors: | Nock, Matthew K. Mendes, Wendy Berry |
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Abstract: | It has been suggested that people engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) because they (a) experience heightened physiological arousal following stressful events and use NSSI to regulate experienced distress and (b) have deficits in their social problem-solving skills that interfere with the performance of more adaptive social responses. However, objective physiological and behavioral data supporting this model are lacking. The authors compared adolescent self-injurers (n = 62) with noninjurers (n = 30) and found that self-injurers showed higher physiological reactivity (skin conductance) during a distressing task, a poorer ability to tolerate this distress, and deficits in several social problem-solving abilities. These findings highlight the importance of attending to increased arousal, distress tolerance, and problem-solving skills in the assessment and treatment of NSSI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
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Keywords: | self-harm self-mutilation physiological arousal distress tolerance problem solving |
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