Do Individuals with Asperger\u27s Syndrome Also Have Alexithymia?

Abstract not availabl

The roles of social stress and decision-making in non-suicidal self-injury

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), or deliberate harm to the body without intent to die, is often performed in order to alleviate negative affect. Although individuals with an NSSI history can generate alternative behaviors, they choose to engage in NSSI, pointing to a deficit in decision-making. However, research indicates that individuals with an NSSI history do not perform worse than individuals with no NSSI history on a measure of risky decision-making at baseline. It is possible that decision-making deficits only occur in particular contexts, such as stressful interpersonal situations. The primary aim of this investigation was to examine whether changes in decision-making following social exclusion would vary as a function of NSSI status. Methods: Participants included 120 adults with (n = 48) and without (n = 72) histories of NSSI. They were assessed for demographic and clinical variables, level of distress, and decision-making ability measured by the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) at baseline. Participants were randomly assigned to a social inclusion or exclusion condition on the Cyberball task, after which they rated their level of distress and completed the IGT again. Results: Individuals with a history of NSSI who were socially excluded reported more distress than individuals with a history of NSSI who were included; however, individuals with a history of NSSI were not significantly more distressed following exclusion than those with no NSSI history. Decision-making ability did not differ at baseline between individuals with and without NSSI histories, nor following the Cyberball task. However, individuals who described themselves as non-Hispanic White did perform more poorly on the IGT following social exclusion. Conclusion: Results of the current study supported research indicating that individuals with a history of NSSI perform similarly to individuals with no NSSI history on a behavioral measure of risky decision-making. However, results of the current study revealed that only non-Hispanic White individuals with a history of NSSI perform more poorly on a measure of decision-making following social exclusion compared to baseline. Given that this study was the first of its kind to use an experimental manipulation prior to administering a standardized test of risky decision-making, further research is needed to elucidate the role of decision-making in NSSI

Neuropsychological Functioning in Prisoners with and without Self-Injurious Behaviors: Implications for the Criminal Justice System

Neuropsychological functioning has not yet been investigated among prisoners who engage in self-injurious behaviors, specifically attempted suicide and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). The purpose of this study was to investigate neuropsychological functioning in prisoners with and without histories of NSSI and attempted suicide. The sample consisted of 173 male prisoners referred for neuropsychological evaluation. Of participants, 56% reported a history of self-injury. Performance on the neuropsychological domains of intelligence, memory, attention, motor functioning, and executive functioning was assessed. No group differences were found among those with NSSI, with NSSI and suicide attempts, and with no history of deliberate self-harm, although functioning was poor in all domains. Implications of the high prevalence of self-injury in this prison sample, as well as implications of impaired functioning on the treatment of self-injurious behaviors, are discussed

The role of emotion dysregulation in the association between posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and suicidal thoughts and behaviors among veterans

Objective: Although research has established a link between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs), little is known about factors that may accentuate this relation. This study evaluated the influences of negative and positive emotion dysregulation on the association between PTSD symptoms and STBs among veterans. Methods: Four-hundred and sixty-five trauma-exposed military veterans in the community (M age = 38.00, 71.4% male, 69.5% White) completed online questionnaires. Results: Negative emotion dysregulation did not moderate the relation between PTSD symptoms and STBs. Results showed significant interactive effects of PTSD symptoms and positive emotion dysregulation on STBs, such that PTSD symptoms were more strongly related to STBs at high (vs. low) levels of positive emotion dysregulation. This effect was sustained across domains of positive emotion dysregulation. Conclusions: Findings suggest a potential need to consider positive emotion dysregulation in the assessment and treatment of STBs among veterans with PTSD symptoms

Higher Educational Attainment is Associated with Lower Risk of a Future Suicide Attempt Among Non-Hispanic Whites but not Non-Hispanic Blacks

PURPOSE: In a sample of patients presenting to the emergency department (ED), the current study was conducted with two aims: (1) to investigate the protective effects of educational attainment (i.e., completing college) on subsequent risk of suicide attempt/death among patients presenting to the ED and (2) to compare this effect between non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White ED patients. METHODS: The current study analyzed data from the Emergency Department Safety Assessment and Follow-Up Evaluation (ED-SAFE) study, a quasi-experimental, eight-center study of universal suicide screening and follow-up of ED patients presenting for suicidal ideation and behavior. Our sample included 937 non-Hispanic White and 211 non-Hispanic Blacks. The dependent variable was suicide attempt/death during the 52-week follow-up. The independent variable was completing college. Age, gender, lesbian/gay/bisexual status, psychiatric history, and previous suicide attempts at baseline were covariates. Race/ethnicity was the focal effect modifier. Logistic regression models were used to test the protective effects of educational attainment on suicide risk in the overall sample and by race/ethnicity. RESULTS: In the overall sample, educational attainment was not associated with suicide risk over the follow-up period. A significant interaction was found between race/ethnicity and educational attainment on suicide risk, suggesting a larger protective effect for non-Hispanic Whites compared with non-Hispanic Blacks. In race/ethnicity-specific models, completing college was associated with decreased future suicide risk for non-Hispanic Whites but not Blacks. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with the Minorities\u27 Diminished Return theory, educational attainment better protected non-Hispanic White than non-Hispanic Blacks against future suicide attempt/death. While Whites who have not completed college may be at an increased risk of suicide, risk of suicide seems to be independent of educational attainment for non-Hispanic Blacks

Emotional change in its “natural habitat”: Measuring everyday emotion regulation with passive and active ambulatory assessment methods

Ambulatory assessment methods have made it possible to study psychological phenomena in real-time, with translational potential for psychotherapy process research. This article uses case example data to demonstrate applications of ambulatory assessment to measuring emotion regulation, a process with relevance across diagnoses and treatment modalities that may be particularly important to measure in situ. Two methods are reviewed: Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), which enables self-reported momentary assessments as people go about their days, and the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR), an unobtrusive naturalistic observation methodology that collects short audio recordings from participants’ moment-to-moment environments, capturing an acoustic diary of their social interactions, daily behaviors, and natural daily language use. Using case example data from research applying EMA and EAR methods in the context of adolescent self-injurious thoughts and behaviors, we illustrate how EMA can be used to measure emotion regulation over time and across contexts, and how EAR can assess the behaviors and social-environmental factors that interact with emotion regulation in clinically important ways. We suggest applications of this measurement approach for investigations of clients’ emotional change over the course of psychotherapy, as well as potential clinical applications of these methods.National Institutes of HealthImmediate accessThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Positive Emotion Dysregulation Identifies Trauma-Exposed Community Individuals at Risk for Suicide and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury

Emotion dysregulation is associated with increased risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). However, research in this area has focused almost exclusively on dysregulation stemming from negative emotions. The present study aimed to address this gap in the literature by examining the associations between the specific domains of positive emotion dysregulation and both STBs and NSSI. Participants included 397 trauma-exposed community adults (Mage = 35.95; 57.7% female; 76.8% White). Results demonstrated significant associations between positive emotion dysregulation and both STBs and NSSI. In particular, higher levels of nonacceptance of positive emotions were found to be significantly related to risk for STBs (versus no risk), higher severity of STBs, and history of NSSI (versus no history). Findings suggest positive emotion dysregulation may play an important role in the etiology and treatment of both STBs and NSSI among trauma-exposed individuals