Abstract
Objectives: Nonsuicidal self-injury is a behavior typically
used to regulate emotions, resulting in damage to one’s body without
suicidal intent. Self-injury may indicate a need for psychological
support, yet stigma is a major barrier to disclosure for many. Despite
stigma’s potential impact on help-seeking, recovery, and wellbeing, our
understanding of self-injury stigma is limited. While traction is
building in this space, few measures of self-injury stigma exist to
allow exploration of its impacts. In this study, we outline the
preliminary validation of the Self-Injury Stigma Questionnaire (SIS-Q),
which was developed to capture the features of self-injury stigma
conceptualised in the NSSI Stigma Framework (Staniland et al., 2021).
Method: First, we developed item pools representing five stigma
perspectives: Public, Personal, Internalized, Anticipated, and Enacted,
and reflecting six dimensions of stigma: Origin, Concealability,
Aesthetics, Course, Peril, and Disruptiveness. These items were piloted
with a sample of 316 ( M age = 32.1, 68% male,
40% with a history of self-injury) participants. Following item
reduction, the scales were administered to 722 ( M
age = 29.2, 27.3% male, 55.7% with a history of
self-injury) participants, and data were analysed for validity,
reliability, and invariance. Results: Confirmatory factor
analyses revealed four factors: Origin, Concealability, Peril, and
Disruption. Internal consistency, convergent and divergent validity, and
measurement invariance were demonstrated. Conclusion: The SIS-Q
offers a comprehensive and theoretically informed measure to support
ongoing efforts investigating the development and persistence of
self-injury stigma, and the impact it has on individuals with lived
experience of self-injury.