TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2021//
TI  - An experimental investigation of the effects of self-criticism and self-compassion on implicit associations with non-suicidal self-injury
JO  - Behaviour research and therapy
A1  - Nagy, Laura M.
A1  - Shanahan, Mackenzie L.
A1  - Baer, Ruth A.
SP  - e103819
EP  - e103819
VL  - 139
IS  - 
N2  - Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is the intentional destruction of bodily tissue in the absence of suicidal motives. Individuals who self-injure often report doing so in order to punish the self or express self-hatred. Self-criticism, or thoughts marked by shame, self-consciousness, and inferiority, is associated with higher rates of NSSI while self-compassion, or the tendency to be sympathetic and caring with oneself, is negatively associated with NSSI. The aim of the present study was to determine whether experimentally-induced self-criticism would increase and self-compassion would decrease implicit identification with NSSI. Participants were randomly assigned to either a self-criticism induction, a self-compassion induction, or a neutral, control condition and completed a measure of strength of the automatic associations that a person holds between themselves and self-harming behaviors before and after the experimental induction. Study hypotheses were partially supported. <br><br>RESULTS showed that participants in the self-criticism induction experienced an increase in their implicit associations with NSSI while implicit associations in the self-compassion condition did not significantly change. These results highlight the importance of self-criticism in NSSI. Future research should examine increases in self-criticism as a potential precursor of NSSI in longitudinal samples.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0005-7967
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2021.103819
ID  - ref1
ER  -