The Contribution of Dissociation and Interpersonal Sensitivity to Self-Injurious Behavior in Young Women

Abstract

The article presents the results of an empirical study of the relationship between dissociative symptoms, interpersonal sensitivity and self-injurious behavior. The study was conducted on a Russian-speaking female sample (N=968, Mean age — 21.29, SD=4.30) in online communities of psychological support for mental health disturbances. The following measures were used: Reasons for Self-Injury (Polskaya, 2017); Peritraumatic Dissociation Questionnaire (Agarkov, Tarabrina, 1998); Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire (Nijenhuis, 1998); Interpersonal Sensitivity Measure (Razvaliaeva, Polskaya, 2021). The frequency of self-injuries decreases with age. Recent self-injuries are more strongly associated with dissociative symptomatology. Interpersonal functions of self-injurious behavior are typical for 18-19-year-olds, and intrapersonal functions – for 20-21-year-olds. Somatoform (b=0.50, p<0.001, R2=0.25) and peritraumatic dissociation (b=0.41, p<0.001, R2=0.17) significantly predict self-injurious behavior. Fear of Rejection, one of the scales of Interpersonal Sensitivity Measure, mediates the relationship between somatoform (indirect effect — 0.06 [0.03; 0.10], p<0.05) and peritraumatic dissociation (indirect effect — 0.07 [0.04; 0.11], p<0.05) and self-injurious behavior.