The Role of Distress Tolerance in the Relationship Between Affect and NSSI.

OBJECTIVE: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), the deliberate and self-inflicted damage of body tissue, typically serves an emotion regulation function. Both negative and positive affectivity have been associated with NSSI, as has low distress tolerance. In the current study, we tested whether relationships between both negative and positive affectivity and NSSI are moderated by the four facets of distress tolerance (tolerance, absorption, appraisal, regulation) captured by the Distress Tolerance Scale. METHODS: A sample of 531 university students completed well-validated measures of NSSI, negative affectivity, positive affectivity, and distress tolerance. RESULTS: Findings indicate that negative and positive affectivity, as well as the appraisal (i.e. negative perceptions of distress) and absorption (i.e. allocation of attention to distress) facets of distress tolerance, were directly associated with NSSI. Positive affectivity and appraisal also interacted in differentiating participants with recent, lifetime and no history of NSSI. Specifically, the association between negative perceptions of distress and self-injury was weaker at high levels of positive affectivity. Positive affectivity and absorption also interacted to differentiate between individuals with no history of NSSI and individuals who recently engaged in NSSI. Specifically, positive affectivity was negatively associated with self-injury, but only among individuals who allocate less attention to their distress. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the independent roles of negative and positive affectivity alongside specific facets of distress tolerance and their interactions with emotional experience, may enhance understanding of NSSI. Prevention and intervention initiatives that assist regulation of negative affectivity, increase positive affectivity, and improve distress tolerance, may reduce the likelihood of engaging in self-injury.HighlightsNegative and positive affectivity are independently associated with NSSIAppraisal and absorption facets of distress tolerance are associated with NSSIPositive affectivity moderates associations between appraisal and absorption and NSSI.

Measurement invariance of the distress tolerance scale among university students with and without a history of non-suicidal self-injury.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is the intentional damage to one's body tissue in the absence of suicidal intent. NSSI primarily serves an emotion regulation function, with individuals engaging in self-injury to escape intense or unwanted emotion. Low distress tolerance has been identified as a mechanism that underlies self-injury, and is commonly assessed using the self-report Distress Tolerance Scale. There are mixed findings regarding the factor structure of the Distress Tolerance Scale, with some researchers utilising a higher-order distress tolerance score (derived from the scores on the four lower-order subscales) and other researchers using the four subscales as unique predictors of psychological outcomes. Neither of these factor structures have been assessed among individuals with a history of self-injury. Of note, an inability to tolerate distress (thought to underlie NSSI) may limit an individual's capacity to accurately observe and report specific thoughts and emotions experienced in a state of heightened distress, which may impact the validity of scores on the Distress Tolerance Scale. Therefore, measurement invariance should be established before attributing NSSI-related differences on the scale to true differences in distress tolerance. We compared the Distress Tolerance Scale higher-order model with the lower-order four factor model among university students with and without a history of NSSI. Our results indicated that the lower-order four factor model was a significantly better fit to the data than the higher-order model. We then tested the measurement invariance of this lower-order factor model among individuals with and without a history of NSSI, and established configural and full metric invariance, followed by partial scalar and full residual error invariance. These results suggest the four subscales of the Distress Tolerance Scale can be used to confidently discern NSSI-related differences in distress tolerance.

Investigating mechanisms for recruiting and retaining volunteers: The role of habit strength and planning in volunteering engagement.

Volunteering rates in high-income countries are declining. Most research into understanding volunteering engagement has focused on conscious processes (e.g., motives), with little exploration of non-conscious antecedents of volunteering engagement. Adopting a new line of investigation, this research used temporal self-regulation theory to investigate the influence of both rational and automatic processes on volunteering engagement. Two related studies using different methodologies were conducted to investigate the influence of intention, planning, and habit strength on volunteering engagement. In both studies, intention and habit strength were significant predictors of volunteering engagement, with planning only significantly predicting volunteering engagement in Study 1. It was also found, in Study 2, that habit strength moderated the intention-behavior relationship. These findings highlight that both rational and automatic processes play a part in volunteering engagement and have implications for recruiting and retaining volunteers.

The lived experience of young Australian adults with type 1 diabetes.

The purpose of the research was to explore the challenges, frustrations and experiences faced by young Australian adults with type 1 diabetes. We focused on the navigation of health behaviours (e.g. eating out, consuming alcohol, physical activity), which impact blood glucose levels, posing particular challenges for people with type 1 diabetes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 young adults with type 1 diabetes, between May and August 2016. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and coded using thematic analysis. Participants reported that the experience of type 1 diabetes made simple things complicated and involved constant vigilance and control. Difficult experiences in social situations were also mentioned; participants felt that their privacy was often threatened, that people voiced misunderstandings about type 1 diabetes, and that members of the public often judge and critique their health behaviours or lifestyle choices. Simple behaviours like eating out with friends, responsible alcohol consumption, and engaging in physical activity pose particular challenges for young people with type 1 diabetes. Public education may reduce stigma and improve health behaviour.

Predicting what mothers feed their preschoolers: Guided by an extended theory of planned behaviour.

BACKGROUND: Healthy eating behaviours are important for physical and mental well-being and developing healthy eating behaviours early in life is important. As parents are the main providers of preschool children's food the main objective of this study was to use the theory of planned behaviour, expanded to include habit and past behaviour, to predict parents' healthy feeding intention and behaviour. METHODS: Theory of planned behaviour, habit strength, and past behaviour were reported at baseline by 443 mothers. One week later, 235 mothers completed a healthy feeding questionnaire on the eating behaviours of their 2-4 year old child. Data were analysed using hierarchical regression analyses to predict parent's general healthy feeding behaviour, and five sub-behaviours: parents' perceptions of their child's fruit and vegetable consumption, healthy and unhealthy snacking behaviour, as well as healthy and unhealthy drinking behaviour. RESULTS: Intention, perceived behavioural control, habit strength and past behaviour were all positively associated with parents' general healthy feeding (47% explained variance). Perceived behavioural control was the only variable positively associated with mothers' perception of their child's fruit and vegetable consumption and unhealthy snacking behaviour. The theory did not explain the other behaviours. Moreover, habit strength only strengthened the intention-behaviour link for fruit and vegetable consumption and child's age was only positively associated with the mothers' perception of their child's unhealthy snacking behaviour. DISCUSSION: The findings suggest important differences in the predictors of different feeding behaviours that can provide direction for future intervention development.