Pain perception and nonsuicidal self-injury: a laboratory investigation

• Published in: Personality disorders Vol. 1; no. 3; p. 170
• Main Authors: Hooley, Jill M, Ho, Doreen T, Slater, Joshua, Lockshin, Amanda
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.07.2010
• Subjects: Adult; Analysis of Variance; Female; Humans; Linear Models; Male; Pain Measurement; Pain Perception - physiology; Pain Threshold - physiology; Pain Threshold - psychology; Self Concept; Self-Injurious Behavior - psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1949-2723
• DOI: 10.1037/a0020106

People who engage in self-injurious behaviors such as cutting and burning may have altered pain perception. Using a community sample, we examined group differences in pain threshold and pain endurance between participants who self-injured and control participants who were exposed to pressure pain applied to the finger. Participants who self-injured had higher pain thresholds (time to report pain) and endured pain for longer than control participants. Among participants who self-injured, those with longer histories of self-injury had higher pain thresholds. Duration of self-injury was unrelated to pain endurance. Instead, greater pain endurance was predicted by higher levels of introversion and neuroticism and by more negative beliefs about one's self-worth. A highly self-critical cognitive style was the strongest predictor of prolonged pain endurance. People who self-injure may regard suffering and pain as something that they deserve. Our findings also have implications for understanding factors that might be involved in the development and maintenance of self-injury.