Associations Between Self-Criticism, Basic Psychological Needs Frustration, and Self-Damaging Behaviors: An Application of Self-Determination Theory

Self-determination theory suggests that the associations between self-criticism and self-damaging behaviors (SDBs; e.g., nonsuicidal self-injury [NSSI], disordered eating [i.e., binge eating, purging, restrictive eating], and alcohol or drug misuse) are mediated by basic psychological needs frustration (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness frustration). However, limited research has tested this hypothesis, precluding our understanding of why or how self-criticism is associated with SDBs.

We addressed this research gap among 1018 adults with a recent history of SDBs (54.6% male, 83.6% White, M_age = 35.41). Participants were recruited on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and completed an online survey assessing self-criticism, basic psychological needs frustration, and engagement in SDBs. Structural equation modeling investigated the direct and indirect effects between these variables.

Self-criticism was positively associated with NSSI, purging, alcohol misuse, and drug misuse. Autonomy frustration indirectly linked self-criticism to NSSI. Competence frustration indirectly linked self-criticism to NSSI, binge eating, restrictive eating, and drug misuse. Relatedness frustration indirectly linked self-criticism to alcohol misuse, drug misuse, binge eating, and restrictive eating, but the direction of these associations differed across SDBs. Specifically, self-criticism was associated with higher relatedness frustration, which in turn was associated with more severe substance misuse and less frequent disordered eating.

Overall, results support the applicability of self-determination theory to understanding how self-criticism is associated with a variety of distinct SDBs.