A longitudinal investigation of university adjustment among students with and without a history of non-suicidal self-injury

Abstract

Objective

The present study explored differences in four domains of university adjustment (i.e. personal-emotional, social, academic, and institutional attachment) among students with and without a history of engaging in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and examined the independent influence of NSSI on university adjustment.

Participants and Methods

Participants were 231 students from a large Canadian university who completed an online survey during their first and second year of university examining their perceived stress, perceived social support, coping self-efficacy, and university adjustment.

Results

Relative to students who never engaged in NSSI, those who did reported lower levels of university adjustment across domains. However, NSSI was not a significant predictor of university adjustment after accounting for perceived stress, perceived social support, and coping self-efficacy.

Conclusions

This study provides preliminary evidence that engaging in NSSI may not confer additional risk for university adjustment, as students’ psychological resources appear to be stronger determinants of adjustment.

Keywords:

• University adjustment
• non-suicidal self-injury
• coping self-efficacy
• social support

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements of Canada, and received approval from McGill University.

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.