A Diary Study of the Within-Person Associations Between Daily Stressors and Negative Affect Among Post-Secondary Students With Recent Nonsuicidal Self-Injury Engagement

Abstract

Exposure to stressors is known to lead to psychological impairment over time. However, the proximal relation between stressors and distress remains unclear, particularly among emerging adults with existing mental health concerns. Using daily diary methods, we explored the associations between five subtypes of daily stressors and negative affect among 160 post-secondary students with recent nonsuicidal self-injury engagement. We also examined whether this relation was moderated by coping strategies. We found a robust relation between daily stressors and negative affect, such that in most same-day and next-day models, relative increases in daily stressors led to increased negative affect. In contrast, we found that heightened negative affect only predicted daily stressor occurrence in same-day models. Problem-focused and socially-supported coping moderated the effect between social mistreatment and distress. Findings emphasize the need to adopt stress mitigation strategies in post-secondary contexts, as stressors may contribute to ongoing distress among students with mental health concerns.