Skip to main content
ABCT 2023 Annual Convention Main banner
Final Program


Program Flipbook
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
Presentation Icons
Ticketed Session
Ticketed Session
Recorded Session
Recorded Session
Back

Suicide and Self-Injury

Does caring about your body matter?: Rethinking the relationship between rumination and NSSI

(PS9-D76) Does Caring About Your Body Matter?: Rethinking the Relationship Between Rumination and NSSI

Saturday, November 18, 2023
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM PST
Location: Regency Ballroom, Level 7
Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), or the purposeful injuring of body tissue without suicidal intent, is a serious public health issue, affecting approximately 17% of adolescents (Swannell et al., 2014). Rumination involves repetitive thinking about an upsetting situation and is associated with increased engagement in NSSI (Nagy et al., 2022). Research has begun to examine moderators of established risk factors for NSSI. One such potential moderator is body regard, or a person’s attitude toward and experiences of their body (Muehlenkamp, 2012). High levels of body regard may act as a protective factor against engagement in NSSI because people who are satisfied with and want to protect their bodies may be less likely to want to hurt them (Muehlenkamp et al., 2013). The aim of the present study was to test whether body regard moderates the relationship between rumination and NSSI. Participants were 2080 undergraduates (71.7% female, Mage = 21.1) who completed self-report questionnaires assessing rumination (Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire; Garnefski & Kraaij, 2006), body regard (Body Regard Scale; Muehlenkamp, 2019), and NSSI history (Inventory of Statements About Self-Injury; Klonsky, 2009). Approximately 21% (n = 468) reported a lifetime history of engagement in NSSI. All study constructs were significantly related. Rumination was positively associated with NSSI history (r = .081, p < .001) while body regard was negatively associated with self-injury (r = -.250, p < .001). Moderation was tested via bootstrapping using Model 1 of the Process macro for SPSS (Hayes, 2022). There were main effects of both rumination (β = -.855, p < .05) and body regard (β = -.2.078, p < .001) on NSSI history. The interaction effect was also significant (β = .313, p < .01). Contrary to hypotheses, when body regard was included in the model, the relationship between rumination and NSSI history became negative. This relationship was examined further and for participants with higher-than-average levels of body regard, the relationship between rumination and NSSI history was positive (r = .102, p < .001), while this relationship was nonsignificant for those with lower-than-average levels of body regard (r = .044, p = .178). Results indicate that the relationship between rumination and NSSI may be more complicated than previously thought and rumination may only be a risk factor for NSSI when levels of body regard are high. It is possible that when a person has high regard for their body, rumination may play a role in why a person chooses to engage in NSSI, consistent with the emotional cascades theory (Selby et al, 2008). However, when levels of body regard are low, rumination may not be as important because people may be more willing to engage in NSSI, even in the absence of rumination. More research is needed to clarify the relationships between these constructs, especially in longitudinal and clinical samples.