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. 2018 Mar;37(1):325-333.
doi: 10.1007/s12144-016-9516-1. Epub 2016 Oct 20.

The Mediating Role of Self-Criticism in the Relationship between Parental Expressed Emotion and NSSI

Brooke A Ammerman  1 , Seth Brown  2
Affiliations

The Mediating Role of Self-Criticism in the Relationship between Parental Expressed Emotion and NSSI

Brooke A Ammerman et al. Curr Psychol. 2018 Mar.

Abstract

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is found at high rates among adolescents and young adults and is associated with many negative consequences, warranting additional research. Two factors that may contribute to NSSI during this time period are one's levels of self-criticism and perceptions of their parental relationships; however, these relationships have received limited attention. The purpose of this current study was to address this gap in the literature. Adolescents and young adults (n=294) completed measures of perceived parental expressed emotion, self-criticism, and NSSI. Participants with a history of NSSI reported perceiving their parents as providing less emotional support, inducing more irritation, being more intrusive, and expressing more criticism compared to those without a history of NSSI. These individuals also endorsed greater self-criticism. Further, self-criticism mediated the relationship between perceived parental expressed emotion and NSSI occurrence, such that those with higher reported self-criticism and greater perceived parental expressed emotion were more likely to engage in NSSI.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The 1st author (Ammerman) declares that she has no conflict of interest. The 2nd author (Brown) declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. The forms of self-criticism in independent mediators
Note: * p <.05, ** p <.01, *** p <.001; indirect effects (based using bias corrected bootstrapping with 1,000 bootstrapped samples) appear in parentheses; FCSRS = Forms of Self-Criticizing/Attacking and Self-Reassuring Scale; LEE = Levels of Expressed Emotion Scale; PLe = perceived lack of support; PIr = perceived irritation; Pin = perceived intrusion; Pc = perceived criticism; EE = expressed emotion; NSSI = non-suicidal self-injury; paths to NSSI history and indirect effects presented are standardized based on x; paths from mediators to independent variables are fully standardized
Figure 2
Figure 2. The forms of self-criticism as concurrent mediators
Note: * p <.05, ** p <.01, *** p <.001; indirect effects (based using bias corrected bootstrapping with 1,000 bootstrapped samples) appear in parentheses; effects (based using bias corrected bootstrapping with 1,000 bootstrapped samples) appear in parentheses; FCSRS = Forms of Self-Criticizing/Attacking and Self-Reassuring Scale; LEE = Levels of Expressed Emotion Scale; PLe = perceived lack of support; PIr = perceived irritation; Pin = perceived intrusion; Pc = perceived criticism; EE = expressed emotion; NSSI = non-suicidal self-injury; paths to NSSI history and indirect effects presented are standardized based on x; paths from mediators to independent variables are fully standardized
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