The uniqueness of negative urgency as a common risk factor for self-harm behaviors, alcohol consumption, and eating problems

Abstract

Research suggests that self-control, affective lability, and negative urgency are associated with deliberate self-harm, problematic alcohol consumption, and eating problems. Few studies have fully examined how negative urgency might uniquely explain the effects of self-control and affective lability on these outcomes, as compared to other impulsivity-related traits. This was the goal of the current study. Of an initial group of 734 undergraduate students, 29% indicated a history of deliberate self-harm. These 215 individuals were randomly matched with a group of non-self-harmers (total N=430; mean age=22.36, SD=6.59; 76.2% female). Self-harmers showed higher rates of alcohol use (F(2, 186)=5.48, p<.001) and eating problems (F(2, 186)=7.74, p<.001). In a structural equation model, negative urgency was significantly associated with self-harming frequency (β=3.81, p<.001), variety of self-harm methods (β=5.79, p<.001), the number of years of self-harming (β=2.75, p<.001), problematic alcohol use (β=1.80, p<.05), and eating problems (β=3.99, p<.001). Negative urgency was positively associated with affective lability (β=7.71, p<.001) and negatively associated with self-control (β=-13.59, p<.001). Negative urgency is the only impulsivity-related trait that is a common risk factor associated with increased self-harm, problematic alcohol use, and eating problems.