Self-Injury as Experiential Avoidance

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Experiential Avoidance, Non-suicidal self-injury, Self-injury, Deliberate self-harm
Hall, Sandra J.
Supervisor and department: Whelton, William Educational Psychology
Examining committee member and department: Klonsky, E. David Psychology, University of British Columbia Dashora, Pushpanjali Human Ecology Rinaldi, Christina Educational Psychology Buck, George Educational Psychology Cui, Ying Educational Psychology
Department: Department of Educational Psychology
Specialization: Counselling Psychology
Date accepted: 2013-01-07T13:51:32Z
Graduation date: 2013-06
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
Degree level: Doctoral
Abstract: Self-injury as defined in this study is the deliberate infliction of harm to ones’ body often cutting or burning without suicidal intent. The increase in self-injurious behaviour in North American society is puzzling to understand and difficult to treat. In several explanatory models, self-injury is conceptualized as a method for coping with overwhelming negative emotions. The Experiential Avoidance Model EAM; Chapman, Gratz, and Brown, 2006 has been hypothesized to be a unifying theoretical framework offering a basis for future research. The EAM proposes that self-injury is a method used to avoid uncomfortable and unmanageable affect, which is then reinforced by escape conditioning and negative reinforcement. This study tested the EAM as well as the underlying vulnerabilities that contribute to experiential avoidance in a sample of 132 self-injurers recruited from the general population. A vulnerability that was hypothesized to contribute to experiential avoidance was insecure attachment through its impact on the other EAM components such as affect intensity, emotion valence, and affect regulation abilities. A control group consisting of 117 participants that did not have a history of self-injury or current mental health concerns were used in this study as a point of comparison on all measures. The results highlight that self-injury serves multiple functions, although emotion regulation is its predominant function. The data provided an acceptable fit to path models that tested the EAM as well as an expanded model of EAM that included anxious-ambivalent attachment. The results highlight complex models that include multiple direct and indirect relations between the variables involved in the frequency of self-injury. Experiential avoidance had a direct effect on the frequency of self-injury. Other results indicate that avoidant attachment plays a role in self-injury as do aversive emotions, specifically guilt. Treatment of self-injury needs to address several areas of deficits, particularly those related to emotion dysregulation. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to the existing literature, treatment, and areas for future research.
Language: English
DOI: doi:10.7939-R3SD9J
Rights: Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission.
Autor: Hall, Sandra J.
Fuente: https://era.library.ualberta.ca/
Introducción
University of Alberta
Self-Injury as Experiential Avoidance
by
Sandra Jennifer Hall
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in
Counselling Psychology
Department of Educational Psychology
©Sandra Jennifer Hall
Spring 2013
Edmonton, Alberta
Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis
and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only.
Where the thesis is
converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users
of the thesis of these terms.
The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and,
except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or
otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the authors prior written permission.
Abstract
Self-injury as defined in this study is the deliberate infliction of harm to ones’
body (often cutting or burning) without suicidal intent.
The increase in selfinjurious behaviour in North American society is puzzling to understand and
difficult to treat.
In several explanatory models, self-injury is conceptualized as a
method for coping with overwhelming negative emotions.
The Experiential
Avoidance Model (EAM; Chapman, Gratz, & Brown, 2006) has been
hypothesized to be a unifying theoretical framework offering a basis for future
research.
The EAM proposes that self-injury is a method used to avoid
uncomfortable and unmanageable affect, which is then reinforced by escape
conditioning and negative reinforcement.
This study tested the EAM as well as
the underlying vulnerabilities that contribute to experiential avoidance in a sample
of 132 self-injurers recruited from the general population.
A vulnerability that was
hypothesized to c...