Latent subtypes of self-injurious urges among adults engaging in disordered eating and non-suicidal self-injury

Background: Self-injurious urges are arguably the clearest antecedents of engaging in self-injurious behaviors (SIBs; e.g., binge eating, self-induced vomiting, cutting, burning). However, self-injurious urges demonstrate great heterogeneity, and it is unknown which are most closely linked to SIBs. This study aims to identify latent profiles of self-injurious urges and subsequently examine associations between profiles and engagement in SIBs.

Method: Adults (N = 124) who reported engaging in at least three SIBs in the past month completed six surveys a day assessing self-injurious urges for 14 days (6600 responses). Latent profiles were constructed using within-person intensity, variability, peak, duration, relative frequency, and overall stability of self-injurious urges over the EMA period.

Results: Five distinct profiles were identified: "sustained," "muted," "sudden-onset," "volatile," and "virtually absent." SIB frequency differed across profiles, H(4) = 41.11, p < 0.001; η² = 0.31, 95% CI [0.19, 0.48], and Dunn's post-hocs indicated those in the "volatile" profile engaged in more SIBs than other profiles.

Conclusion: Findings support the presence of meaningful profiles of self-injurious urges and suggest these profiles differ in levels of SIB engagement. Future work should prospectively examine associations between profile membership and engagement in SIBs and identify treatment targets to intervene on SIBs.