International Journal of Behavioral Sciences

International Journal of Behavioral Sciences

Comparison of Behavioral Inhibition and Metacognitive Thinking and Cognitive Fusion in Self-Injured and Normal People

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Kosar Mahmoodi-Galugahi 1
Sudabeh Hdadaei 2
Fatemeh Davoodi 3
Haleh Taghizadeh 3
Zohreh Jafar-Belaghati 4
1 Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Ayatollah Amoli Branch, Amol, Iran
2 Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran
3 Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Sari Branch, Sari, Iran
4 Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht Branch, Shiraz, Iran
10.30491/ijbs.2024.441634.2077
Abstract
Introduction: Self-injury encompasses not just physical sensations but also includes psychological, emotional, and social dimensions. The present study aimed to compare behavioral inhibition and metacognitive thinking and cognitive fusion in self-injured and normal people.
Method: This study is a causal-comparative research. The statistical population for the study consisted of individuals with a history of self-injurious behaviors who sought treatment at psychological clinics in Shiraz from July to September 2023. The research employed purposive sampling as the sampling method. At the end, the data of 53 participants was analyzed. The data collection tools utilized in this study were the Measure of Behavioral Inhibition (2005), Cognitive Fusion Scale (2014), and Meta-Cognition Questionnaire (2004). Data analysis was conducted using the MANOVA and Independent Samples T-Test and Welch's t-test through SPSS version 27 software.
Results: According to findings, the observed difference in the mean of behavioral inhibition, positive beliefs about worry, negative beliefs about the controllability of thoughts, and cognitive uncertainty in two groups with self-injury and without self-injury was significant (p<0.05).
Conclusion: The findings of this research suggest that individuals who engage in self-harm display notable disparities in terms of behavioral inhibition and metacognitive thinking in comparison to those who do not self-harm. However, there is no significant divergence observed in cognitive fusion between the two groups. The study reveals that individuals with self-injury exhibit higher levels of behavioral inhibition harbor negative beliefs about their ability to control thoughts, and experience cognitive uncertainty more frequently than individuals without self-injury. Conversely, individuals without self-injury tend to possess stronger positive beliefs about worry compared to those with self-injury.
Keywords
Behavioral Inhibition
Metacognitive Thinking
Cognitive Fusion
Self-Injury
  1. Lu, J., et al., Associations between unintentional injuries and deliberate self-harm behaviors of children and adolescents: a school-based cross-sectional survey. General hospital psychiatry, 2024. 86: 67-74. doi: 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2023.12.003 .[PubMed: 38118378].
  2. Lewin, C.d.C., Leamy M., and Palmer L., How do people conceptualize self‐harm recovery and what helps in adolescence, young and middle adulthood? A qualitative meta‐synthesis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2024. 80(1): 39-64. doi: 10.1002/jclp.23588 .[PubMed: 37610315].
  3. Zhao, H., et al., Self-harm and interpersonal violence due to high temperature from the global burden of disease study 2019: A 30-year assessment. Environmental research, 2024. 243: 117826. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117826 .[PubMed: 38081341].
  4. Faraji, R., Babapour Khairuddin J., and Bakhshipour Roodsari A., Investigating the mediating role of hopelessness in the relationship between alexithymia, impulsivity, distress tolerance, self-criticism and non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents. Journal of Modern Psychological Researches, 2023. 18(71): 179-188. 10.22034/jmpr.2023.54628.5340
  5. Blaha, Y., et al., Risk-taking and self-harm behaviors as markers of adolescent borderline personality disorder. European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2024: p. 1-11. doi: 10.1007/s00787-023-02353-y .[PubMed: 38194081].
  6. Wu, R., et al., Behavioral inhibition/approach systems and adolescent nonsuicidal self-injury: The chain mediating effects of difficulty in emotion regulation and depression. Personality and Individual Differences, 2021. 175: 110718. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.110718
  7. Tan, E., et al., Social versus non‐social behavioral inhibition: Differential prediction from early childhood of long‐term psychosocial outcomes. Developmental Science, 2024. 27(1): e13427. doi: 10.1111/desc.13427 .[PubMed: 37345685].
  8. Maia, R., et al., Evidence-based interventions targeted at behavioral inhibition, shyness, and anxious withdrawal during the preschool years: A rapid review. Current Psychology, 2024: 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05574-1
  9. Mozafari, N., et al., Executive functions, behavioral activation/behavioral inhibition system, and emotion regulation in adolescents with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and normal counterparts. Journal of Research in Psychopathology, 2022. 3(7): 1-9. 10.22098/jrp.2021.1146
  10. Fernández-Sevillano, J., et al., Suicidal behaviour and cognition: A systematic review with special focus on prefrontal deficits. Journal of affective disorders, 2021. 278: 488-496. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.09.044 .[PubMed: 33017675].
  11. Coleman, E.P., Croft R.J., and Barkus E., The profile of unusual beliefs associated with metacognitive thinking and attributional styles. PsyCh Journal, 2022. 11(3): 296-309. doi: 10.1002/pchj.528.[PubMed: 35168296].
  12. Aadahl, V., et al., Metacognitive beliefs and suicidal ideation: an experience sampling study. International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. 18(23): 12336. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182312336 .[PubMed: 34886060].
  13. Sorgi-Wilson, K.M., et al., Cognition and non-suicidal self-injury: exploring relationships with psychological functions. Archives of suicide research, 2023. 27(3): 1002-1018. doi: 10.1080/13811118.2022.2106919 .[PubMed: 35924878].
  14. Hamidi, M., et al., Comparison of the Efficacy of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Integrated Treatment (Four Factor Approach) on Cognitive Fusion on Women with Suicide Attempts. Journal of North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, 2021. 13(2): 103-110. 10.52547/nkums.13.2.103
  15. Chen, N., Xi J., and Fan X., Correlations among psychological resilience, cognitive fusion, and depressed emotions in patients with depression. Behavioral Sciences, 2023. 13(2): 100. doi: 10.3390/bs13020100 .[PubMed: 36829329].
  16. O'Loughlin, C.M., Bennett D.S., and O'Hayer C.V., The nomological network of cognitive fusion among people living with HIV: Associations with rumination, shame, and depressive symptoms. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 2020. 15: 245-252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.01.012
  17. Krafft, J., et al., Psychological inflexibility predicts suicidality over time in college students. Suicide and Life‐Threatening Behavior, 2019. 49(5): 1488-1496. doi: 10.1111/sltb.12533 .[PubMed: 30474885].
  18. Cookson, C., et al., Examining the role of cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance in predicting anxiety and depression. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 2020. 93(3): 456-473. doi: 10.1111/papt.12233 .[PubMed: 30994261].
  19. Fidell, L.S. and B.G. Tabachnick, Preparatory data analysis. Handbook of psychology: Research methods in psychology, 2003. 2: 115-141.
  20. Gladstone, G. and Parker G., Measuring a behaviorally inhibited temperament style: development and initial validation of new self-report measures. Psychiatry Research, 2005. 135(2): 133-143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2005.03.005
  21. Badiee, E., et al., Effectiveness of Mindful Parenting Education on Emotion Regulation and Behavioral Inhibition in Parents with Anxious Children. Iranian Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 2021. 7(3): 65-75. URL: http://ijrn.ir/article-1-607-fa.html
  22. Gillanders, D.T., et al., The development and initial validation of the cognitive fusion questionnaire. Behavior therapy, 2014. 45(1): 83-101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2013.09.001
  23. Norouzi, M. and Kajbaf M.B., The Effectiveness of Treatment Based on Acceptance and Commitment on Mental Health and Cognitive Fusion of Girls with Emotional Breakdown. 2023. URL: http://rbs.mui.ac.ir/article-1-1416-fa.html
  24. Welsh, P., et al., Metacognitive beliefs in adolescents with an at‐risk mental state for psychosis. Early intervention in psychiatry, 2014. 8(1): 82-86. https://doi.org/10.1111/eip.12052
  25. Rahmani, S., Makvand Hosseini S., and A. Ghanbary Motlagh, The Effectiveness of Group Metacognition Treatment on Metacognition Beliefs of Women with Breast Cancer. Iranian Journal of Cognition and Education, 2014. 1(2): 13-20. https://doi.org/10.22075/ijce.2014.191
  26. Burke T.A., et al., Emotional response inhibition to self-harm stimuli interacts with momentary negative affect to predict nonsuicidal self-injury urges. Behaviour research and therapy, 2021. 142: 103865. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2021.103865 .[PubMed: 33940222].
  27. Anaya, B., et al., Developmental trajectories of behavioral inhibition from infancy to age seven: The role of genetic and environmental risk for psychopathology. Child development, 2023. 94(4): p. e231-e245. doi: 10.1111/cdev.13924 .[PubMed: 37017208].
  28. Yao, Z., et al., The relationship between social anxiety and self-injury of junior high school students: mediation by intolerance of uncertainty and moderation by self-esteem. Frontiers in public health, 2023. 11: 1046729. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1046729.[PubMed: 36969616].
  29. Hayes, S.C. and Pistorello J., Can a practical process‐oriented strategy prevent suicidal ideation and behavior? World Psychiatry, 2024. 23(1): 154. doi: 10.1002/wps.21158.[PubMed: 38214625].
  30. Shirazi F, J.N., Jafari L, Akbari Z, The Effect of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Cognitive Fusion, Emotional Dysregulation, and Suicidal Ideation in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder. IJPN, 2022. 10(5): 1-3. https://doi.org/10.22034/IJPN.10.5.9
  31. Shafiee, S., Sayadi M., and Sharifi P., The Role of Affects and Metacognitive Beliefs in Prediction of Youth Self-Harm Behaviors. Rooyesh-e-Ravanshenasi Journal (RRJ), 2019. 8(7): 119-128. http://frooyesh.ir/browse.php?a_id=1190&sid=1&slc_lang=en
  32. Martin, S., A. Oltra, and J. Del Monte, Metacognition vulnerabilities in time of crisis: Who to protect from suicidal risk? Brain and behavior, 2022. 12(12): e2794. doi: 10.1002/brb3.2794 .[PubMed: 36366935].

33.       Cankaya, H., et al., The Relationship Between Suicidal Behavior and Metacognitive Characteristics in Male Patients with Antisocial Personality Disorder. Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 2022. 12(4): 188. 10.5455/PBS.20220625091308

International Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Volume 18, Issue 2
Summer 2024
Pages 83-90