The present study investigated the association between nonsuicidal self-injury characteristics, functions, and the UPPS-P impulsivity-related traits in high-school students using self-report questionnaires. More than 17% of the 613 students engaged in at least one type of NSSI behavior. Compared to male students, female students engaged more often in cutting and less in head banging. All NSSI behaviors were significantly related to Negative and Positive Urgency, that is, the tendency to act impulsive in the presence of negative/positive affect. Interactions between different UPPS-P impulsivity dimensions did not increase the percentage of explained variance in the different NSSI behaviors. Furthermore, severe cutting was negatively related to Lack of Premeditation. Different NSSI functions showed differential relationships with the five UPPS-P impulsivity dimensions. 1. Introduction Non-suicidal self-injury refers to socially unaccepted behavior involving deliberate and direct injury to one’s own body surface without suicidal intent [1]. Most individuals who self-injure begin to do so during early to middle adolescence [2], with an average age of onset ranging between 12 and 16 years of age [3]. In a large survey of NSSI among American college students, Whitlock and colleagues [4] reported that 15.3% of the students had engaged in NSSI at least once (6.8% in the previous 12 months). No significant gender differences were found for 12-month prevalence of NSSI. However, females engaged in more cutting than males [4], whereas males engaged in more self-battery than females [4]. Most adolescents engage in NSSI for automatic (self) reinforcement (e.g., to stop bad feelings, to punish oneself), although a sizable minority endorse social reinforcement functions as well (e.g., to make others angry) [1, 5]. Despite the consistent endorsement of these functions by those with an NSSI history, very few studies have examined how features such as impulsive personality trait(s) may influence the functions NSSI serves within an individual. It is often assumed that individuals who self-injure are more impulsive than those who do not self-injure. In support of this notion, there is evidence that adolescents who engage in NSSI are more likely to engage in other impulsive/risky behaviors [6–8], show more Cluster B personality disorder criteria [7, 9, 10], and show higher scores on impulsivity-related traits [6, 7]. On the contrary, other studies found mixed results regarding the link between NSSI and impulsivity. For example, Hawton et al. [11] found that impulsivity
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