Novel Assessment Methods for Differentiating Risk for Suicidal and Nonsuicidal Self-Injurious Behaviors

Abstract

Abstract This chapter reviews novel assessment methods for differentiating risk for suicidal and nonsuicidal self-injurious behaviors. An overview is provided of several prominent conceptualizations of how these distinct clinical phenomena interrelate. The chapter discusses the measurement of NSSI and related processes, with a focus on self-report questionnaires and interviews, as well as laboratory-based behavioral measures and neuroimaging paradigms that may inform our understanding of NSSI and its similarity to and distinction from suicidal behaviors. The chapter also presents emerging approaches that seem particularly promising for the purpose of differentiating risk for NSSI and suicidal behavior. It concludes with a review of the challenges and limitations of methodological paradigms aimed at differentiating risk for NSSI and suicidal behavior.