Abstract
Self-inflicted injury (SII) in adolescence marks heightened risk for suicide attempts, completed suicide, and adult psychopathology.
Although several studies have revealed elevated rates of depression among adolescents who self injure, no one has compared
adolescent self injury with adolescent depression on biological, self-, and informant-report markers of vulnerability and
risk. Such a comparison may have important implications for treatment, prevention, and developmental models of self injury
and borderline personality disorder. We used a multi-method, multi-informant approach to examine how adolescent SII differs
from adolescent depression. Self-injuring, depressed, and typical adolescent females (n = 25 per group) and their mothers completed measures of psychopathology and emotion regulation, among others. In addition,
we assessed electrodermal responding (EDR), a peripheral biomarker of trait impulsivity. Participants in the SII group (a)
scored higher than depressed adolescents on measures of both externalizing psychopathology and emotion dysregulation, and
(b) exhibited attenuated EDR, similar to patterns observed among impulsive, externalizing males. Self-injuring adolescents
also scored higher on measures of borderline pathology. These findings reveal a coherent pattern of differences between self-injuring
and depressed adolescent girls, consistent with theories that SII differs from depression in etiology and developmental course.
Although several studies have revealed elevated rates of depression among adolescents who self injure, no one has compared
adolescent self injury with adolescent depression on biological, self-, and informant-report markers of vulnerability and
risk. Such a comparison may have important implications for treatment, prevention, and developmental models of self injury
and borderline personality disorder. We used a multi-method, multi-informant approach to examine how adolescent SII differs
from adolescent depression. Self-injuring, depressed, and typical adolescent females (n = 25 per group) and their mothers completed measures of psychopathology and emotion regulation, among others. In addition,
we assessed electrodermal responding (EDR), a peripheral biomarker of trait impulsivity. Participants in the SII group (a)
scored higher than depressed adolescents on measures of both externalizing psychopathology and emotion dysregulation, and
(b) exhibited attenuated EDR, similar to patterns observed among impulsive, externalizing males. Self-injuring adolescents
also scored higher on measures of borderline pathology. These findings reveal a coherent pattern of differences between self-injuring
and depressed adolescent girls, consistent with theories that SII differs from depression in etiology and developmental course.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 1-13
- DOI 10.1007/s10802-011-9578-3
- Authors
- Sheila E. Crowell, Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
- Theodore P. Beauchaine, Department of Psychology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
- Ray C. Hsiao, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Christina A. Vasilev, Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
- Mona Yaptangco, Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
- Marsha M. Linehan, Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Elizabeth McCauley, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Journal Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
- Online ISSN 1573-2835
- Print ISSN 0091-0627