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Updated: Jun 20, 2026
08:09
Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
Published on: February 11, 2017
Non-Suicidal Self-Injury as a Low-Effort Strategy for Avoiding Negative Affect.
Chloe Roske1, Regina Musicaro2, Peter J Franz2,3
1Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Journal of Clinical Psychology
|April 27, 2026
Summary
Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is linked to its negative reinforcement value, not general avoidant coping. Frequent NSSI is associated with the perception that other emotion regulation strategies require too much effort.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is often used for negative reinforcement, potentially by avoiding negative affect.
- This study investigates if effort discounting, an aversion to cognitive effort, contributes to NSSI and avoidant emotion regulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if effort discounting underlies non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI).
- To explore the relationship between effort discounting, NSSI, and emotion regulation strategies.
Main Methods:
- 149 adults, 52% with NSSI history, completed effort discounting measures.
- Confirmatory factor analysis identified emotion regulation strategy dimensions.
- Participants self-reported NSSI history, perceived effort of non-NSSI strategies, and strategy use.
Main Results:
- Effort discounting was not linked to avoidant strategies but modestly to lower engagement-oriented coping.
- Avoidant strategy use did not correlate with NSSI frequency.
- NSSI for negative reinforcement strongly predicted NSSI frequency.
- Higher NSSI frequency correlated with perceiving alternative strategies as more effortful.
Conclusions:
- Frequent NSSI is associated with its negative reinforcement function.
- Perceived high effort in alternative emotion regulation strategies is linked to increased NSSI frequency.
- NSSI does not appear to stem from a general tendency for avoidant coping.
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