Social Context During Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Indicates Suicide Risk

The hypothesis that the social context during non-suicidal self-injury respresents an easily measurable & theoretically meaningful marker for suicide risk among those who self-injure was tested. Participants were 205 young adults. In general, self-injurers scored higher on measures of suicidality & suicide risk factors than a control sample of 596 non-injurers. In addition, self-injurers who engaged in non-suicidal self-injury alone were more likely to report a history of suicide ideation, plans, & attempts compared to other self-injurers. Endorsement of automatic/intrapersonal functions only partially explained the relationship between the social context during non-suicidal self-injury & suicidality. (30 refs.) JA