Skip to main content
ABCT 2024 58th Annual Convention Main banner
Psychology Tools Ad
Final Program


Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
Presentation Icons
Recorded Session
Recorded Session
Ticketed Session
Ticketed Session
Back

Suicide and Self-Injury

Testing the Moderating Role of Psychological Flexibility on the Relationship between Drive for Muscularity and Fearlessness about Death among Young Adult Men

(PS13-36) Testing the Moderating Role of Psychological Flexibility on the Relationship Between Drive for Muscularity and Fearlessness About Death Among Young Adult Men

Sunday, November 17, 2024
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM EST
Location: Franklin Hall, Level 4, Marriott Downtown
Abstract Text: Muscle dysmorphia (MD) symptoms are strongly associated with suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and death by suicide (Ortiz et al., 2021; Phillips, 2007). Symptoms of MD are most commonly observed in men, who are almost four times more likely to die by suicide than women (CDC, 2021). Those exhibiting MD symptoms often engage in behaviors such as excessive exercise and substance abuse. Excessive exercise and substance use are both linked to capability for suicide (Smith et al., 2013; Silva et al., 2015), which is comprised of pain tolerance and fearlessness about death. Thus, MD symptoms may predict increased capability for suicide over time. Importantly though, there may be moderators of this relationship. Specifically, men exhibiting MD symptoms are often psychologically inflexible and engage in psychological avoidance, a facet of psychological flexibility characterized by escaping particular feelings, thoughts, and situations due to discomfort. As such, men with MD symptoms may attempt to distract from aversive feelings with ritualistic behaviors (e.g., mirror checking; Wilhelm et al., 2013). This behavior, while acutely adaptive, is ultimately maladaptive, leading to greater long-term distress and impairment. Still, no studies have examined the ramifications of psychological (in)flexibility on the relationship between MD cognitions and capability for suicide over time. Thus, the current study examined longitudinal associations between drive for muscularity, psychological avoidance, and fearlessness about death (FAD) in a sample of young undergraduate men. Participants (n=189, Mage=19.46 years) from two separate public universities completed the Drive for Muscularity Scale, Personalized Psychological Flexibility Index, and FAD subscale at two timepoints. Hierarchical linear regression was used to examine main and interactive effects of drive for muscularity and psychological avoidance at baseline on FAD at one-month follow-up. After controlling for baseline FAD, baseline drive for muscularity (B=-0.82, p=.033) and psychological avoidance (B=-1.00, p=.018) were significantly associated with FAD at one-month follow-up. There was a significant interaction between drive for muscularity and psychological avoidance (B=1.27, p=.022), such that drive for muscularity was associated with greater capability for suicide in men exhibiting greater psychological flexibility/less psychological avoidance. Although seemingly counter-intuitive, these findings align with recent literature within populations engaging in non-suicidal self-injury, which suggest that the adaptive utility of psychological flexibility may be context-dependent (Park & Ammerman, 2023). For those exhibiting greater MD cognitions, greater psychological flexibility may allow for increased contemplation of death, thereby increasing one’s FAD. These findings underscore the necessity of continued research on psychological flexibility and its ramifications on the longitudinal associations between MD symptoms and suicidality. Future research should continue to examine how various levels of psychological flexibility may differentially influence suicidality for men exhibiting MD symptoms.