Feelings of Emptiness in Community Young Adults: A Mixed-Method Approach to Investigating Its Components and Associations with Inter- and Intrapersonal Functions of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury.

Emptiness, a symptom of borderline personality disorder (BPD; APA, 2013), is also experienced by non-clinical populations (Herron & Sani, 2022). Understanding its manifestation in community young adults is crucial for effective prevention and intervention. The Multidimensional Sense of Emptiness Scale (MSES; Ermis et al., 2022) identifies components like Sense of Inner Emptiness, Absence of Relatedness, and Meaninglessness, but broader experiences have been reported in research (Hudson et al., 2024; Herron & Sani, 2022; Miller et al., 2021; Price et al., 2022). This study first aimed to qualitatively explore these components and identify potential new aspects in community young adults.

Emptiness is closely linked to non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), a maladaptive coping mechanism common among young adults (D’Agostino et al., 2021). NSSI serves intrapersonal functions (e.g., affect regulation, anti-dissociation) and interpersonal functions (e.g., boundary-setting, peer bonding; Klonsky & Glenn, 2009), which may provide insight into how individuals manage emptiness. However, how specific components of emptiness relate to these NSSI functions remains unclear. This study also analyzed emptiness narratives for NSSI references and investigated associations between emptiness components and NSSI functions. By uncovering these links, the findings aim to advance understanding of the emotional mechanisms driving NSSI and support targeted prevention and intervention strategies.