Nonsuicidal Self-Injury and Spiritual/Religious Coping

Abstract

In the present investigation, increased levels of spiritual discontent religious coping were associated with increased nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) among study participants. Spiritual discontent religious coping is a negative religious coping style that involves beliefs about being abandoned and ignored by God or a higher power during times of stress. We examined the bivariate and multivariate relationships between NSSI and four types of spiritual/religious coping. While three types of spiritual/religious coping were associated with NSSI in bivariate correlation analyses, only one type of coping—spiritual discontent religious coping—was associated with NSSI in a hierarchical regression analysis. We discuss the research and mental health counseling implications of these findings.