ارتباط ذهن آگاهی و خودکنترلی با صدمه زدن به خود و به دیگران

Aggression to others and harm to the self (self-harm) have both been associated with similar possible antecedents; however, literatures on aggression and self-harm are commonly separated. This web-based study (N = 241) aimed to explore the dynamics of self-reported mindfulness and self-control towards aggression and self-harm. As predicted, those who were more mindful and more self-controlled reported being less aggressive and self-harmless typically. Bootstrap analyses suggested that self-control mediated the link between mindfulness and general trait aggression, physical aggression, anger, hostility, and self-harm, but not verbal aggression. With the inclusion of self-control, the direct effect of mindfulness on trait aggression, anger, and hostility, but not on physical aggression and self-harm, remained significant. Self-control, therefore, may be a pertinent individual difference on the link between mindfulness and behaviours that are physically harmful to the self and to others.

A previous review (Hillbrand, 2001) has pointed out that although aggression and self-harm often coexist, the risk assessment of these behaviours are typically separated. It could be argued that those who self-harmed are less likely to harm others, as some research suggest that self-harm is psychological distress, particularly anger, directed inwards (Hill & Dallos, 2012). Repetition of self-harm is also related to intropunitive but not to extrapunitive hostility ( Brittlebank et al., 1990). Even so, the presence of similar possible mechanisms for harm to the self and to others, such as lower levels of serotonin ( Barbui, Esposito, & Cipriani, 2009) and cerebrospinal fluid monoamine metabolite ( Placidi et al., 2001), would mean that aggressive individuals may, in fact, also lack inhibition to harm themselves. As proposed by Selby, Anestis, and Joiner (2008), when dealing with intense negative emotions, individuals may ruminate on these emotions, or use thought suppression as an attempt to stop rumination. Because both strategies may paradoxically increase the intensity and frequency of negative emotions, some individuals might then engage in a dysregulated behaviour to distract themselves. Indeed, emotional relief has been reported as the most common reason for self-harm in studies using self-report methodologies (Brown, Comtois, & Linehan, 2002). Similarly, ruminating about a provocation increases the likelihood of displaced aggression (Bushman, 2002). By contrast, mindfulness may decrease both over-engagement (i.e., rumination) and avoidance of experiences, by bringing attention back to the “here-and-now” with a nonjudgemental attitude (Hayes & Feldman, 2004). The current literature has increasingly documented the application of mindfulness as an intervention technique for aggressive behaviours (Singh et al., 2012) and repeated episodes of self-harm (Williams, Dugan, Crane, & Fennell, 2006). Nevertheless, mindfulness has also been conceptualised as a natural predisposition to pay attention to and be aware of on-going events in daily life (Brown & Ryan, 2003). Mindfully keeping attention on experiences, with minimal effort to act on them, should lead to a situation of exposure and, in turn, extinction (Baer, 2003). Thus, although all individuals may encounter situations that potentially could trigger aggressive and self-harmful behaviours, those who are mindful may experience the resulting habitually associated responses to a reduced extent. As shown elsewhere, trait mindfulness is associated with lower levels of self-reported aggressiveness (e.g., Borders, Earleywine, & Jajodia, 2010; Brown & Ryan, 2003). The mechanisms of mindfulness towards aggression and self-harm, however, are yet unclear. Borders et al. (2010) found that while rumination may be a crucial mechanism between self-reported mindfulness and verbal aggression, anger, hostility, other mechanisms could come into play for reductions of physical aggression. This highlighted the importance of testing not only general trait aggression but also its specific components. Borders et al. suggested that the effect that mindfulness has on behavioural aggression may be mediated through relaxation, emotion regulation, better cognitive functioning and flexibility, and decrease impulsivity. Some of these suggested mechanisms appear to be related to the capacity of the self to control itself by altering its dominant response tendencies (Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone, 2004). Self-control was explicitly mentioned (but not tested) by Heppner et al. (2008) as a potential mediator between mindfulness and aggression. In self-harm studies, self-controlled emotion regulation is typically measured separately from mindfulness (e.g., Gratz and Roemer, 2004 and Slee et al., 2008). It is a key aim of the current study, therefore, to examine the dynamics of self-reported mindfulness, self-control, aggression, and self-harm. The link between self-control and aggression per se has been well documented (see Moffitt et al., 2011), and self-reported measures of mindfulness and self-control are strongly related with each other ( Bowlin & Baer, 2012; Brown & Ryan, 2003). As the influential theory of feedback loops ( Carver & Scheier, 1982) implies, self-control demands a continuous monitoring of one’s current states against some desirable goals or standards. Since this process is not affectively neutral, individuals who mindfully monitor their emotions may be better attuned to when self-control is required before impulsive reactions occur ( Brown et al., 2007 and Teper et al., 2013). It is recently shown that in experienced mindfulness meditators, emotional acceptance and brain-based performance monitoring are related to greater self-control ( Teper & Inzlicht, 2013). Arguably, mindfulness may also decrease aggression and self-harm through successful self-controlled efforts to refrain from acting on impulses to harm the self and others. Accordingly, the current study examines three hypotheses. First, self-reported mindfulness and self-control will be positively correlated to each other, negatively associated with aggression and self-harm. Second, individual differences in aggression will be positively associated with self-harm. Third, self-control will mediate any relationships between mindfulness and aggression and self-harm. If mindfulness and self-control could predict individuals’ tendency to harm themselves in the same way as they predicts harm to others, then the risk factors of aggression that potentially curable through mindfulness may also include self-harm and poor behavioural self-control (e.g., impulsivity), in addition to problems of anger. We focus on self-harm in the absence of suicidal intent as suicide attempts are frequently intended to decrease the burden for others ( Brown et al., 2002).