Feeling better or worse? The lived experience of non-suicidal self-injury among Malaysian University students

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Su Chen Tan ◽  
Cai Lian Tam ◽  
Gregory Bonn
2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvanna Mirichlis ◽  
Penelope Hasking ◽  
Stephen P. Lewis ◽  
Mark E. Boyes

Purpose Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is associated with psychological disorders and suicidal thoughts and behaviours; disclosure of NSSI can serve as a catalyst for help-seeking and self-advocacy amongst people who have self-injured. This study aims to identify the socio-demographic, NSSI-related, socio-cognitive and socio-emotional correlates of NSSI disclosure. Given elevated rates of NSSI amongst university students, this study aimed to investigate these factors amongst this population. Design/methodology/approach Australian university students (n = 573) completed online surveys; 80.2% had previously disclosed self-injury. Findings NSSI disclosure was associated with having a mental illness diagnosis, intrapersonal NSSI functions, specifically marking distress and anti-dissociation, having physical scars from NSSI, greater perceived impact of NSSI, less expectation that NSSI would result in communication and greater social support from friends and significant others. Originality/value Expanding on previous works in the area, this study incorporated cognitions about NSSI. The ways in which individuals think about the noticeability and impact of their NSSI, and the potential to gain support, are associated with the decision to disclose self-injury. Addressing the way individuals with lived experience consolidate these considerations could facilitate their agency in whether to disclose their NSSI and highlight considerations for health-care professionals working with clients who have lived experience of NSSI.


PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e10915
Author(s):  
Ashley Slabbert ◽  
Penelope Hasking ◽  
Danyelle Greene ◽  
Mark Boyes

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is the intentional damage to one’s body tissue in the absence of suicidal intent. NSSI primarily serves an emotion regulation function, with individuals engaging in self-injury to escape intense or unwanted emotion. Low distress tolerance has been identified as a mechanism that underlies self-injury, and is commonly assessed using the self-report Distress Tolerance Scale. There are mixed findings regarding the factor structure of the Distress Tolerance Scale, with some researchers utilising a higher-order distress tolerance score (derived from the scores on the four lower-order subscales) and other researchers using the four subscales as unique predictors of psychological outcomes. Neither of these factor structures have been assessed among individuals with a history of self-injury. Of note, an inability to tolerate distress (thought to underlie NSSI) may limit an individual’s capacity to accurately observe and report specific thoughts and emotions experienced in a state of heightened distress, which may impact the validity of scores on the Distress Tolerance Scale. Therefore, measurement invariance should be established before attributing NSSI-related differences on the scale to true differences in distress tolerance. We compared the Distress Tolerance Scale higher-order model with the lower-order four factor model among university students with and without a history of NSSI. Our results indicated that the lower-order four factor model was a significantly better fit to the data than the higher-order model. We then tested the measurement invariance of this lower-order factor model among individuals with and without a history of NSSI, and established configural and full metric invariance, followed by partial scalar and full residual error invariance. These results suggest the four subscales of the Distress Tolerance Scale can be used to confidently discern NSSI-related differences in distress tolerance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (12) ◽  
pp. 2119-2139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen P. Lewis ◽  
Therese E. Kenny ◽  
Kristen Whitfield ◽  
Jennifer Gomez

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enza Gucciardi

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of university students with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Methods: University students participated in a 2-part focus group. Transcripts were analyzed thematically using an open-coding approach. Data analysis was guided by a framework analysis method and emergent themes were triangulated between study authors for validity. Results: Three major themes identified in this study were food issues within the university environment, lack of diabetes awareness on campus and internal struggles related to the participants' relationships with their diabetes. Conclusions: Results illustrate some of the unique challenges that interfere with diabetes self-management, academic performance and quality of life among this sample of university students. Findings can provide insight for diabetes educators and other healthcare practitioners regarding the issues that may interfere with optimal diabetes self-care in this population. Findings also can be used to inform university administrators how to make the university environment more diabetes friendly for its students.


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