(PS13-2) Investigating the Influence of Emotion Reactivity and Reward Sensitivity on the Link Between Depression and Self-injurious Behaviors

Objective: Self-injurious behaviors are one of the leading causes of mortality and have increased in recent years. There is substantial literature indicating Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a contributor to self-injurious behaviors but alone does not differentiate those at the highest risk for self-injurious behaviors. To identify individuals with a history of MDD who are at elevated risk for future self-injury, examining individual trait differences that may influence the relationship between depression and self-injurious behaviors is particularly needed and beneficial to clinicians assessing for suicide risk. The present study sought to investigate how individual differences in emotion reactivity and reward sensitivity may modify how depressive symptoms relate to self-injurious behaviors.

Methods: A sample of 480 community adults (M/SDage = 32.21/10.47, 53.5% female) completed an interview and self-reported measures.

Results: We found Emotional reactivity moderated the relationship between MDD symptoms and self-injurious behaviors (B = 0.033, SE = 0.009, p < 0.001, 95% CI [0.014/0.051]). The positive association between MDD symptoms and self-injurious behaviors was significant at high levels of emotional reactivity (+1 SD: Effect = 0.085, SE = 0.013, p < 0.001), but not low levels of emotional reactivity (-1 SD: Effect = 0.024, SE = 0.013, p = 0.054). In contrast, reward sensitivity did not modulate the association between MDD symptoms and self-injurious behaviors.

Conclusion: These findings suggest the importance of considering trait-like factors to differentiate associations between a lifetime history of MDD and self-injurious behaviors and determine who is at most risk for these harmful behaviors.