| BackgroundNon-Suicidal Self-Injury(NSSI)is regarded as a type of impulsive behavior or impulse control disorder in which the self-injured group has a tendency to engage in rapid self-injurious behavior without being able to think about the negative consequences.Individuals experience more negative life events or acute stressors than normal prior to engaging in self-injurious behavior,along with dysfunctional responses and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies,and the negative experiences associated with these processes exacerbate impulsive decision-making and behavior.As the major factor in the current third wave of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy,mindfulness has shown significant efficacy in promoting mental health and reducing stress,and has shown greater promise for impulsivity interventions.Therefore,examining the relationship between mindfulness,stress,and impulsivity is particularly important for impulsivity prevention and intervention in self-injury groups.The goals of this study were to examine the effects of stressful life events on impulsivity,the mediating role that mindfulness plays in the relationship between them,and the differences in the mediating model among people with or without NSSI,and to investigate the effects of simple mindfulness training on the intervention of impulsive decision-making and reactions of self-injured individuals in stressful situations.MethodsStudy 1 adopted a random sample questionnaire research method to collect self-reported data from adolescents and college students aged 12-25 years,which included the Adolescents Self-Harm Scale、Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Check-list、Mindful Attention Awareness Scale、Short Version of the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale.To test whether stressful life events affect individual impulsivity through mindfulness and to analyze the differences in healthy and self-injury groups.Study 2 adopted convenience sampling combined with questionnaires and behavioral experiments to conduct a one-way,two-level(mindfulness intervention vs.popular science control)between-subjects experimental design,in which subjects were randomly divided into a mindfulness intervention group(n=26)and a popular science control group(n=28).Demographic information and clinical characteristics of subjects were collected through self-rated scales and other-rated interviews,and acute stress responses were induced in self-injured subjects using the Trier Social Stress Test,different intervention strategies(brief mindfulness training vs.popular science audio)were implemented for the two groups after the stress,and the subjects’ state impulsivity was subsequently measured by Delayed Discounting Task,Go/No-Go task and Stop Sign Task to test the difference in state impulsivity after the intervention,and to calm the effects of stress after the experiment.ResultsStudy 1:(1)The number of 862 subjects in this study who had at least one or more experiences of NSSI in the past year was 202,accounting for 23.4%of the total;(2)Stressful life events had a significant positive predictive effect on impulsivity(β=0.139,p<0.05),stressful life events significantly negatively predicted mindfulness(β=-0.542,p<0.05),and mindfulness significantly negatively predicted impulsivity(β=-0.534,p<0.05),with indirect effect size of 0.289 and 95%CI is[0.242,0.341],with the indirect effect size accounting for 67.52%of the total effect;(3)In the NSSI group,mindfulness played a completely mediating role,with an effect size of 0.245,and had a stronger negative predictive effect on impulsivity than in the NSSI group(β=-0.690,p<0.05).Study 2:(1)There were significant differences between the intervention and control groups in scores on immediate selection probability(t=-5.003,p<0.001)and area under the curve AUC(t=6.437,p<0.001),with the intervention group having a smaller immediate selection probability and a significantly larger AUC than the control group;(2)There were significant differences between two groups in scores on No-go trial response error rate(t=-4.301,p<0.001)and Go-RT at base execution response(t=2.644,p<0.05)scores were significantly different,with the intervention group having a significantly smaller response error rate and a significantly larger Go-RT than the control group;(3)the intervention and control groups had significantly different scores on Stop trial response correct rate(t=3.610,p<0.01)、Go-RT at base execution response(t=3.243,p<0.01)and Delay time SSD(t=3.276,p<0.01)scores were significantly different,and the correct Stop trial response rate and Go-RT were significantly greater in the intervention group than in the control group;there was no significant difference between the scores of self-injured subjects in the two groups on SSRT(t=0.707,p>0.05).Conclusion(1)Stressful life events can significantly and positively influence self-reported impulsivity and can also significantly and negatively influence mindfulness;mindfulness can negatively influence the level of self-reported impulsivity.(2)Stressful life events can influence self-reported impulsivity levels through the mindfulness,i.e.,they can influence impulsivity by increasing the level of mindfulness after experiencing a higher number of negative life events.(3)Compared with people without experience of NSSI,self-injurers may experience faster decline in impulsivity after improving their level of mindfulness,that is,it is easier to reduce the level of impulsivity caused by stressful life events through improving their level of mindfulness.(4)Brief mindfulness training reduced impulsive decision making under acute stress,i.e.,self-injured subjects who received ten minutes of mindfulness training under a state of stress showed lower discounting of delayed rewards and greater probability of selecting delayed rewards.(5)Brief mindfulness training enhanced response inhibition in self-injured subjects under acute stress,i.e.,self-injured subjects who received ten minutes of mindfulness training under a state of stress had a greater probability of stopping in time when a stop signal was presented. |
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