title: Non-suicidal self-injury in eating disordered patients: a test of a conceptual model.
abstract: A theoretical model explaining the high co-occurrence of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in eating disordered populations as resulting from childhood traumatic experiences, low self-esteem, psychopathology, dissociation, and body dissatisfaction was previously proposed but not empirically tested. The current study empirically evaluated the fit of this proposed model within a sample of 422 young adult females (mean age=21.60; S.D.=6.27) consecutively admitted to an inpatient treatment unit for eating disorders. Participants completed a packet of questionnaires within a week of admission. Structural equation modeling procedures showed the model provided a good fit to the data, accounting for 15% of the variance in NSSI. Childhood trauma appears to have an indirect relationship to NSSI that is likely to be expressed via relationships to low self-esteem, psychopathology, body dissatisfaction, and dissociation. It appears that dissociation and body dissatisfaction may be particularly salient factors to consider in both understanding and treating NSSI within an eating disordered population.
authors.affiliation: University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Department of Psychology, Eau Claire, WI 54702-4044, USA. muehlejj@uwec.edu
authors.forename: Jennifer J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Muehlenkamp
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Claes
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Smits
authors.forename: Christine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Peat
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Vandereycken
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011599:Psychopathology; D012649:Self Concept; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000209:etiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult