Common Pathways to NSSI and Suicide Ideation: The Roles of Rumination and Self-Compassion

Abstract

We investigated whether rumination and self-compassion moderate and/or mediate the relationships between negative affect and both non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide ideation. Undergraduate university students (n = 415) completed well-validated measures of negative affect, rumination, self-compassion, NSSI, and suicide ideation. Neither rumination nor self-compassion moderated associations between negative affect and NSSI and suicide ideation. However, both rumination and self-compassion mediated associations between negative affect and lifetime history of NSSI and suicide ideation. Self-compassion additionally mediated the association between negative affect and both 12-month NSSI and suicide ideation. The salience of self-compassion, particularly in predicting recent NSSI and suicide ideation, offers promise for early intervention initiatives focusing on less judgmental or self-critical means of self-relation.

Keywords:

• NSSI
• rumination
• self-compassion
• suicide ideation

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported, in part, by a grant awarded to Peter McEvoy, Penelope Hasking, and Clare Rees by the Research and Development Committee of the School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University (SRAF-2014-37).

Notes on contributors

Penelope Hasking

Penelope Hasking and Mark E Boyes, School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

Amy Finlay-Jones, School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Australia, and Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

Mark E Boyes

Penelope Hasking and Mark E Boyes, School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

Amy Finlay-Jones, School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Australia, and Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

Amy Finlay-Jones

Peter M. McEvoy, School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Australia, and Centre for Clinical Interventions, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

Peter M. McEvoy

Clare S. Rees, School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Penelope Hasking, School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia. Email: [email protected]

Clare S. Rees

Clare S. Rees, School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Penelope Hasking, School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia. Email: [email protected]