Citation

Schatten HT, Andover MS, Armey MF. Psychiatry Res. 2015; 229(3): 983-991.

Affiliation

Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Box G-BH, Providence, RI 02912, USA; Butler Hospital, Psychosocial Research Program, 345 Blackstone Boulevard, Providence, RI 02906, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.psychres.2015.05.087

PMID

26260569

Abstract

Research suggests that individuals with a history of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) do not have difficulty generating alternatives to social problems but choose more negative solutions, suggesting a deficit in decision-making. However, studies report no significant differences in risky decision-making on a performance-based task among individuals with and without NSSI histories. A limitation of these studies is that decision-making was only assessed at baseline. As individuals with a history of NSSI typically self-injure when experiencing negative emotions, decision-making ability may become impaired specifically in the presence of these emotions. The aim of the current study was to investigate decision-making ability among individuals with and without NSSI histories both at baseline and following a distressing social exclusion task. We compared individuals with (n=48) and without (n=72) NSSI histories on the Iowa Gambling Task, a behavioral measure of risky decision-making, before and after exclusion or inclusion on the Cyberball task.

RESULTS indicated no significant group differences in performance regardless of condition. When participants were grouped by racial/ethnic minority status, results indicated that non-Hispanic White individuals with a history of NSSI exhibited deterioration in risky decision-making ability following social exclusion. Potential explanations for these findings and clinical implications are discussed.

Language: en