Nonsuicidal Self-Injury and Suicidal Self-Injury: A Taxometric Investigation

•The manuscript presents the first taxometric investigation of the latent structure of suicidal and non-suicidal self-injury.•Indicators were derived from a structured interview completed by 1,525 respondents with a history of self-injury.•Results indicated that suicidal and non-suicidal self-injurious behaviors occur along a dimension.

The present research examined the latent structure of self-injurious behavior (SIB) to determine whether suicidal self-injury (SSI) and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) reflect categorically distinct types of SIB or dimensional variations of the same construct. Participants consisted of 1,525 female undergraduates across several universities in the United States who completed the Survey of College Mental Health and Well Being and endorsed a history of SIB. Empirically derived indicators representing intent to die, suicidal history, frequency of SIB, severity of SIB, and number of methods of SIB were submitted to three mathematically independent taxometric procedures. Results of multiple consistency tests converged to indicate that the latent structure of SIB is continuous, with individuals who engage in SSI and NSSI differing in degree rather than kind. The implications of these dimensional findings for the theoretical conceptualization, assessment, and treatment of SIB are discussed.