Implicit Assessment of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury: Group Differences in Temporal Stability of the Self-Injury Implicit Association Test (SI-IAT).

OBJECTIVE: We examine differences on the Self-Injury Implicit Association Test (SI-IAT) by history of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), in a test-retest design, to examine short-term temporal stability of SI-IAT scores. METHOD: Treatment-seeking participants (N = 113; 58% female; 89% White; Mage = 30.57) completed the SI-IAT and self-report measures at two time points (MTimeframe = 3.8 days). RESULTS: Data suggested NSSI (51% of the sample endorsed lifetime NSSI) was related to Time 1 (T1) identity and attitude, and affected stability of scores. T1 and T2 SI-IAT identity and attitude were more strongly related for participants with NSSI history. NSSI characteristics (recency; number of methods) affected stability. CONCLUSIONS: The short-term test-retest reliability of the SI-IAT is strong among those with NSSI history from T1 to T2. However, the SI-IATs use with participants without a history of NSSI was not supported beyond its established ability to differentiate between groups by NSSI history. This test may provide clinically-relevant assessment among those with a history of NSSI.

Participants with vs. without NSSI history respond differently on the SI-IATTemporal stability of SI-IAT performance is strong in a short timeframeResults supported the test-retest reliability of the SI-IAT in the target group.

Does the unified protocol really change neuroticism? Results from a randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: Neuroticism is associated with the onset and maintenance of a number of mental health conditions, as well as a number of deleterious outcomes (e.g. physical health problems, higher divorce rates, lost productivity, and increased treatment seeking); thus, the consideration of whether this trait can be addressed in treatment is warranted. To date, outcome research has yielded mixed results regarding neuroticism's responsiveness to treatment, perhaps due to the fact that study interventions are typically designed to target disorder symptoms rather than neuroticism itself. The purpose of the current study was to explore whether a course of treatment with the unified protocol (UP), a transdiagnostic intervention that was explicitly developed to target neuroticism, results in greater reductions in neuroticism compared to gold-standard, symptom focused cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) protocols and a waitlist (WL) control condition. METHOD: Patients with principal anxiety disorders (N = 223) were included in this study. They completed a validated self-report measure of neuroticism, as well as clinician-rated measures of psychological symptoms. RESULTS: At week 16, participants in the UP condition exhibited significantly lower levels of neuroticism than participants in the symptom-focused CBT (t(218) = -2.17, p = 0.03, d = -0.32) and WL conditions(t(207) = -2.33, p = 0.02, d = -0.43), and these group differences remained after controlling for simultaneous fluctuations in depression and anxiety symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment effects on neuroticism may be most robust when this trait is explicitly targeted.

From Urges to Action: Negative Urgency and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in an Acute Transdiagnostic Sample.

Urgency-rash action during strong emotion-is a robust correlate of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). This study tested whether urgency is associated with time between NSSI urges and NSSI, and sought to replicate the finding that urgency is associated with NSSI history. Participants attending a partial hospitalization program (N = 669) completed self-report measures of urgency, NSSI history and latency, and psychiatric symptoms. Consistent with previous research in clinical samples, rates of lifetime engagement in NSSI were high. Using logistic regression to predict short vs. long latency between urges and NSSI, no significant relationship emerged between negative urgency and latency to self-injure. Negative urgency more than doubled the likelihood of NSSI history (p < .001, OR = 2.39). In addition, exploratory analyses revealed several links between NSSI latency and negative urgency. Results confirm that urgency is robustly related to NSSI, yet also suggest that more research is needed to understand how urgency relates to the parameters of NSSI within those who self-injure. Use of retrospective self-report measures may limit the ability to test links between urgency and latency of NSSI.