Authors: Jill M. Hooley and Sarah A. St. Germain.
Overview
People who engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) endure physical pain for longer periods than do noninjuring individuals. Pain endurance is also predicted by the presence of highly self-critical beliefs. We tested the hypothesis that changing beliefs about the self would change pain endurance in NSSI individuals. NSSI (n = 50) and control (n = 84) participants were randomly assigned to hear positive music, to receive a brief cognitive intervention designed to improve feelings of personal self-worth, or to a neutral condition. Pain endurance was measured before and after the experimental manipulations. As predicted, there was a significant Group × Condition × Time interaction. After the cognitive intervention, NSSI participants showed a 69-s decrease in pain endurance compared with a 9-s decrease for control participants. For NSSI participants, improvement in self-worth was also significantly correlated with decreased willingness to endure pain. Cognitive approaches that focus on self-worth may provide a new treatment direction for NSSI.
Keywords: NSSI, pain, emotion regulation, cognitive therapy, schemas.
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