Beyond Emotion Regulation Difficulties: a Cross-National, Cross-Sectional Study of Strengths-Based Psychological Predictors of Self-Injury Among University Students.

Abstract

Research on the etiology of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) has been largely deficit-focused, with emotion dysregulation frequently underscored as a common predictor of NSSI. Meanwhile, strengths-based models have been less frequently employed. This cross-sectional study explored the direct and indirect (through emotion regulation difficulties) potentially protective effects of strengths-based psychological variables (i.e., mindfulness, self-compassion, optimism, and resilience) on the likelihood of reporting past-year NSSI in a cross-national sample of university students (N = 861) residing in Belgium (n = 320), Canada (n = 136), and Australia (n = 406). The fit of the logistic mediation model did not differ when country was included, suggesting that the model was broadly applicable across all three contexts. Greater mindfulness, self-compassion, optimism, and resilience were all indirectly associated with a lower likelihood of reporting past-year NSSI through better emotion regulation. Notably, greater self-compassion and optimism were also directly associated with a lower likelihood of reporting past-year NSSI. Findings lend preliminary cross-national support for the possible protective roles of strengths-based psychological variables in relation to NSSI and for the mediating role of emotion regulation in these relations. Results also underscore the distinct contributions of self-compassion and optimism in relation to past-year NSSI, independent of those explained by emotion regulation, shedding light on a strengths-based etiological model that extends beyond emotion regulation difficulties.