Association between heart rate variability and emotion dysregulation in adolescents with non-suicidal self-injury

Introduction Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a strong predictor of increased future suicidal ideation and risk. The highest prevalence of NSSI is in adolescents. NSSI is performed as a maladaptive response to emotion regulation distress when facing an intense negative emotional load. One of the physiological markers of Emotion Dysregulation (ED) can be measured quantitatively through changes in Heart Rate Variability (HRV).