Background: Despite the threat of self-selection bias to the generalizability of research findings, remarkably little is known about who chooses to take part in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) research specifically. We aimed to establish the extent of willingness to take part in NSSI research within a commonly sampled population before assessing whether individual differences in demographic characteristics, NSSI lived experience, and participation experiences were associated with willingness to take part in future NSSI research.
Methods: New Zealand university students (n = 3098) completed self-report measures of their NSSI, psychological distress, emotional dysregulation, experience of their participation in the current study, and willingness to participate in future NSSI research.
Results: Most participants (78.2%) indicated that they were willing to take part in future NSSI research. Men, older participants, people with NSSI lived experience, and those with more frequent past-year NSSI were more likely to be willing to take part in future NSSI research. Participants who reported a more positive subjective experience of the current study also indicated greater willingness.
Conclusions: Findings demonstrate systematic differences in who is willing to take part in NSSI research. Future research should implement methodological and statistical approaches to mitigate the impact of self-selection bias on NSSI research.
Keywords: Research participation; study recruitment; volunteer bias.
© 2023 The Authors. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Association of Suicidology.