OBJECTIVE: Understanding of nonsuicidal self-injury relies almost exclusively on adolescent and emerging adult samples. We investigated the prevalence of lifetime and past-year nonsuicidal self-injury among New Zealanders aged 16-75 years and above, before evaluating if established associations between nonsuicidal self-injury, and demographic and psychological characteristics generalise to adults. METHOD: New Zealand adults ( RESULTS: Nonsuicidal self-injury was common among adults
25.6% participants reported ever self-injuring and 10.7% had done so at least once in the past year. Women and younger participants were more likely to report lifetime self-injury. Although younger participants were also more likely to report past-year self-injury than older participants, this age effect was attenuated for men ( CONCLUSION: Although self-injury was most common among emerging adults, adults of all ages reported self-injuring. Individuals with a greater desire to manage how others perceive them appeared to underreport their nonsuicidal self-injury. While men were less likely than women to self-injure, they may also be more likely to continue self-injuring over adulthood, suggesting that the developmental factors which drive self-injury cessation among adults differ for men and women.