(PS9-C70) Moment-to-moment Fluctuations in Self-concept Clarity as a Proximal Predictor of Nonsuicidal Self-injury

Empirical research suggests that nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), defined as deliberately harming one's own body without intending to die, tends to occur in the context of increased negative affect and interpersonal stressors (Hepp et al., 2020; Hepp et al., 2021). Far fewer empirical studies have explored what identity-related factors might likewise contribute to increases in the risk for thinking about or engaging in NSSI. One aspect of identity found to be related to NSSI is self-concept clarity (Lear & Pepper, 2016), the extent to which one's beliefs about the self are clearly defined, consistent, and stable. While there is preliminary evidence for a link between NSSI and self-concept clarity (Scala et al., 2018), the temporal associations between the two remain unclear, and the few studies that examine this relationship are typically cross-sectional studies with racially homogenous treatment-seeking samples. Thus, the current study aims to use an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) design to investigate the extent to which momentary self-concept clarity predicts contemporaneous and subsequent NSSI thoughts in a racially diverse sample.

We recruited 130 English-speaking adults from around the U.S. who had engaged in 10+ episodes of NSSI over their lifetime. Participants answered EMA surveys 4 times per day for 2 weeks, with same-day prompts delivered approximately 3 hours apart. The EMA surveys included items measuring intensity of NSSI thoughts (“To what extent have you experienced thoughts or urges about hurting yourself on purpose in any way without meaning to die?”), and self-concept clarity (“I had a clear sense of who I am and what I am”) since the last prompt.

Data collection has just been completed, and results will be available by the convention. Multilevel modeling will be used to test whether self-concept clarity is associated with contemporaneous NSSI thoughts, and with NSSI thoughts at the next EMA prompt within the same day. We hypothesize that contemporaneous self-concept clarity and NSSI thoughts will have a negative within-person association, and that self-concept clarity and NSSI thoughts aggregated across the EMA period will have a negative between-person association.

Rather than viewing identity instability as a stable trait, our study highlights the importance of using intensive longitudinal methods to examine moment-to-moment fluctuations in self-concept clarity. The results of this study have the potential to contribute to our understanding of short-term predictors of NSSI thoughts, and to shed light on how dynamic changes in identity-related factors may be useful additions to cognitive-behavioral conceptualizations of NSSI.