Adolescent Self-Mutilating Behaviors: Experiential Avoidance Coupled with Imitation? Page: 30
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of depression or anxiety, eliminating cognitive dissonance regarding self-punishment, or
decreasing feelings of unreality or lack of control. Temporary escape from these negative inner
experiences therefore negatively reinforces the self-mutilating behavior. An assumption of this
model is that self-mutilation becomes a repeated cycle due to four related tenets: 1) experiential
avoidance has paradoxical effects, 2) the aversive emotional response is not extinguished, 3) the
existence of rule-governed behavior, and 4) the habituation of factors that would generally
constrain this behavior.
Tenet 1. Paradoxical effects. The act of avoiding or escaping emotions through RSM
actually increases the likelihood of a rebound effect. Research has indicated that chronic use of
experiential avoidance strategies (e.g., thought suppression, emotional avoidance) may actually
increase psychological distress (Gross & Levenson, 1997; Lynch et al., 2001; Wegner & Gold,
1995). Within the EAM, it is proposed that heightened avoidance of an emotion or thought
results in an increased frequency or intensified experience of that emotion or thought, triggering
further RSM and a repetition of the cycle.
Tenet 2. Aversive response is not extinguished. Lack of exposure to the unwanted
experience through the use of repeated experiential avoidance (RSM or a functionally equivalent
behavior) precludes any opportunity for an individual to learn that the experience is non-
threatening. Additionally, if peers are avoiding unwanted experiences in a similar manner, there
may be no opportunity to witness these experiences as non-threatening to others. Therefore, the
aversive emotional response is not extinguished.
Tenet 3. Rule-governed behavior. The principle of rule-governed behavior is also
assumed to underlie the repetition of RSM, and experiential avoidance in general. Rule-governed
behavior is based on the idea that verbal rules specify relationships between behaviors and30
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Howe-Martin, Laura S. Adolescent Self-Mutilating Behaviors: Experiential Avoidance Coupled with Imitation?, dissertation, August 2008; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc9087/m1/39/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .