The role of emotion reactivity and gender in the relationship between psychopathology and self-injurious behavior

• Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide attempts (SA).
• Depression is associated with NSSI and SA.
• We investigated emotion reactivity as a mediator of these effects.
• Emotion reactivity mediates the depression-NSSI and depression-SA relationships in women only.
• Emotion reactivity mediates the BPD–NSSI relationships for both genders.

The goal of the present study was to examine emotion reactivity, a broad construct that consists of an individual’s sensitivity, intensity, and persistence of emotional reactions, as a mediator of the relationship between two types of psychopathology (depression symptoms and borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms) and history of self-injurious behavior (non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide attempts (SA)). We also examined gender as a potential moderator of this relationship. Participants (N = 1914) completed measures of emotion reactivity, psychopathology, and self-injurious behavior. Results using a series of mediated path analyses indicated that emotion reactivity mediated the relationship between (1) depressive symptoms and NSSI in females only, (2) depressive symptoms and SA in females only, and (3) probable BPD diagnosis and NSSI in both genders. Emotion reactivity did not mediate the relationship between probable BPD diagnosis and SA in either gender. Our findings suggest that emotion reactivity is a possible pathway through which depression and self-injurious behavior relate, especially in women. We temper these findings, however, within the context of relatively modest observed effects.