Relative Importance of Self-Disgust as a Predictor of Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors among Young Adults

Introduction: Self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs) are prevalent among young adults. This study aimed to explore self-disgust as a potential correlate and predictor of SITBs. Methods: Participants were recruited on a college campus. One hundred and sixteen participants (62% female-identifying, 51% Caucasian, 40% LGBTQ+, Mage = 19.68, SD = 1.41) completed assessments. Results: Participants with a history of SITBs had significantly higher self-disgust scores than those without. Self-disgust was significantly associated with other demographic (e.g., LGBTQ+ identity), psychological (e.g., experiential avoidance), and clinical (e.g., history of psychopathology) variables. Multivariable logistic regression analyses showed that even when adjusting for other strong correlates, self-disgust remained a significant predictor of SITB history (yes/no). Further, self-disgust outperformed all other variables in the model on multiple metrics of relative importance. Conclusions: Findings suggest the significance of self-disgust as an important emotion in further understanding, and potentially predicting, SITBs among young adults.