(PS9-C59) Examining the Mediating Factors Between Social Support and Perceived Recovery from NSSI

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) continues to be a prevalent behavior among youth yet research regarding factors that may impact cessation of, or recovery from, NSSI is scarce. Evidence suggests that social support is a powerful protective factor (Yuan et al., 2023), and that resilience (Watson & Tatnell, 2019) and self-compassion (Hasking et al., 2019) are associated with reduced NSSI and potential cessation (Rotolone and Martin, 2012).  One study found that resilience mediated the relationship between social support and reduced NSSI (Yuan et al., 2023), and it is possible that self-compassion may also be influenced by social support, thereby also mediating the link to reduced NSSI. However, there is little research investigating how these variables may work together to influence recovery. Using archival data collected from a screening survey administered to college students assessing eligibility for a larger study on NSSI and suicide, the current study aims to investigate whether resilience and self-compassion mediate the relationship between social support and perceived NSSI recovery.

Participants included 686 university students (N=686; Mage=19.65, SD=1.456; 73.8% female, 9.9% TGNB; 90.6% white) with a lifetime history of NSSI (Mean past year frequency = 36.60, SD = 55.85) who completed an online Qualtrics survey assessing social support, self-compassion, resilience, and NSSI behaviors, including perceived recovery.  Just over 58% of the sample indicated they considered themselves as having recovered from engaging in NSSI over the past year. The data was analyzed using model 4 of the SPSS PROCESS macro to test the dual mediation of self-compassion and resilience in the relationship between social support and perceived recovery. Results of the full model were significant, F(3, 682) = 24.03, p< .001, and accounted for 9.56% of the variance in perceived recovery. Social support’s direct relationship to perceived recovery became non-significant with the mediators in the model (b=.0564, t=1.40, p >.16, 95% CI=[-0.019; 0.113]). The indirect effects through resilience (effect=.093; 95%CI=.057;.132) and self-compassion (effect=.025, 95%CI=.003;.051) were both significant. Resilience and self-compassion also had significant main effects on perceived recovery.

These results indicate that fostering resilience and self-compassion in addition to strengthening social support may be important for the recovery process from NSSI and are modifiable targets amenable to cognitive-behavioral interventions. This combination of factors could improve one’s ability to cope with NSSI urges, possibly leading to less engagement and higher perceptions of recovery, which is consistent with some recent work on coping self-efficacy (Hasking et al., 2019).