Interpersonal stress stimuli decrease inhibitory control in adolescents with repetitive non-suicidal self-injury:...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Repetitive non-suicidal self-injury (R-NSSI) is a significant concern in adolescents.
• Impaired inhibitory control is implicated in R-NSSI, but its specific effects on interference and response inhibition under interpersonal stress are unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether adolescents with R-NSSI exhibit deficits in interference and response inhibition when exposed to interpersonal stress stimuli.
• To explore the neurocognitive underpinnings of these potential deficits using event-related potentials (ERP).

Main Methods:

• Two studies were conducted with adolescents identified with R-NSSI and healthy controls.
• Study 1 used a negative affective priming (NAP) task with angry/disgusted faces to assess interference inhibition.
• Study 2 employed a two-choice emotional oddball task with emotional faces to evaluate response inhibition, with ERP recorded in both studies.

Main Results:

• Adolescents with R-NSSI showed impaired interference inhibition towards disgusted faces, indicated by lower NAP bias scores and altered P2d/LPCd amplitudes.
• Deficits in response inhibition were observed across all face stimuli in R-NSSI adolescents, marked by longer reaction times and smaller P3d amplitudes.

Conclusions:

• Adolescents with R-NSSI exhibit distinct neurocognitive patterns related to inhibitory control.
• Findings suggest specific deficits in interference inhibition linked to interpersonal stress and general impairments in response inhibition in R-NSSI.