Non-suicidal self-injury: emotion regulation strategies in a sample of Italian undergraduate students

Background and aims.– Several studies conducted all over the world claim that suicidality and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) are highly prevalent in college students. Research suggests that difficulties in emotion regulation may play a role in NSSI but the relationship between the two constructs is still uncertain as the discriminating factor between those who perform self-injury behaviors and those who do not remains unclear. The purpose of our study is to examine the connection between NSSI, difficulties in emotion regulation and emotion regulation strategies. We hypothesized that even in non-clinical population individuals that report greater difficulty in regulating emotions would be more likely to present self-injury behaviors. Methods.– Participants included 150 undergraduate students. Demographic information, including clinical history, were collected in a form. Non-suicidal self-injury was assessed using Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory (Gratz, 2001), difficulties in emotion regulation were assessed using Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz & Roemer, 2004), whereas emotion regulation strategies were assessed with Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ; Gross & John, 2003). Results.– Our results show a correlation between NSSI, Emotion Dysregulation and emotion regulation strategies