Experiential avoidance in non‐suicidal self‐injury and suicide experiences: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract

Introduction:This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to (i) examine the associations between experiential avoidance (EA), non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), and suicide experiences, and (ii) identify sample-and methodological-related variables affecting the strength of these associations. Method: Medline, Embase, PsychINFO, Web of Science, and CINAHL were searched until April 2020. Random-effect meta-analyses were applied. The I 2 statistic and the Egger's test assessed heterogeneity and publication bias. Meta-regression analyses were used to evaluate the impact of moderator variables on the strength of these associations. Results: Data from 19 independent studies based on n = 9900 participants were pooled. The analyses demonstrated a weak but significant association between EA and NSSI. None of the examined moderator variables influenced the strength of this relationship. There was an indication of publication bias, suggesting that this association may have been inflated. The associations between EA, and suicide ideation and behaviors were moderate to strong. Discussion: The current study concluded that (i) the EA model for NSSI should be revised by incorporating new evidence implicating feelings of relief in NSSI, and (ii) future studies should examine interactive factors between EA and key psychological components in the pathways to suicide experiences because these findings have direct clinical implications.

The relationship between clinical perfectionism and nonsuicidal self‐injury: The roles of experiential avoidance, self‐esteem, and locus of control

“…Experiential avoidance was associated with NSSI in the univariate analyses, which is consistent with research showing that individuals who tend to avoid undesirable emotions are more likely to engage in NSSI (Angelakis & Gooding, 2021 ). Experiential avoidance was more strongly related to NSSI in the past year than NSSI history, which may suggest that experiential avoidance is particularly relevant for understanding recent rather than past engagement in NSSI (see Anderson & Crowther, 2012 ).…”

The Relation between Neuroticism and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Behavior among College Students: Multiple Mediating Effects of Emotion Regulation and Depression

“…When adverse events occur in their life, they have deviation in processing stimuli (especially negative information) and regard it as a threat, and tend to respond by injuring themselves. Additionally, recent evidence has implicated experiential avoidance (EA) as a potentially important factor in the engagement of NSSI behaviors and suicidal ideation [ 13 , 14 ]. The EA model posits that self-injury is regarded as an avoidance and escape behavior in response to unwanted and distressing cognitions or emotions, or experiences of uncontrollable negative emotional arousal.…”

The effect of childhood sexual abuse on depressive symptoms in female college students: a serial mediation model

“…It is one of the six core concepts of the psychological inflexibility model, and it reinforces psychological inflexibility, which is thought to be the root cause of human suffering and dysfunction ( Hayes et al, 2006 ; Dionne et al, 2013 ). Empirical research has found that experiential avoidance is not only associated with substance abuse ( Kheirabadi et al, 2021 ), eating disorders ( Litwin et al, 2017 ), self-injury ( Angelakis and Gooding, 2021 ), and other externalizing problems, it has also been shown to be associated with anxiety, compulsion, post-traumatic stress, and depression symptoms ( Tull et al, 2004 ; Orcutt et al, 2020 ; Akbari et al, 2022 ), all of which are related to mental health problems ( Peng et al, 2021 ).…”