Peer victimization and non-suicidal self-injury: A pilot ecological momentary assessment study

Emily Hermanson Brackman, Fordham University

Abstract

The link between peer victimization and adolescent self-injury, both with and without suicidal intent, is not fully understood. Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) often onsets during adolescence (e.g., Prinstein et al., 2010), and research has shown that it predicts future suicide attempts (e.g., Andover & Gibb, 2010). The purpose of the present study was to assess the feasibility of examining the association between peer victimization and NSSI using ecological momentary assessment (EMA; Stone & Shiffman, 1994), and to pilot this methodolgy in a sample of community adolescents and young adults. Participants (n = 12) completed an in-person baseline assessment and training (Phase I) and randomly signaled cell-phone surveys three times per day for two weeks, with the option to initiate a survey at any time (Phase II). Results indicated that the study methodology was feasible in this population, but that future studies will need to make adjustments to recruitment to obtain adequate frequency of EMA reports of key study constructs. Preliminary analyses of this pilot data suggest a strong association between lifetime experiences of peer victimization and current frequency of reports of NSSI thoughts and behaviors. Future research should aim to recruit larger samples and should consider the use of a clinical population in order to adequately capture both current peer victimization and current NSSI thoughts and behaviors via EMA.

Subject Area

Psychology|Clinical psychology

Recommended Citation

Brackman, Emily Hermanson, "Peer victimization and non-suicidal self-injury: A pilot ecological momentary assessment study" (2015). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI1603302.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI1603302

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