A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Feelings of Inner Emptiness in Community Young Adults: Associations With Identity and Personality Functioning, Health Risk Behaviors, and (Mal)Adaptive Coping Strategies

AB Inner emptiness is a transdiagnostic experience linked to self-injurious and suicidal behaviors, yet its underlying structure and psychosocial correlates remain poorly understood, particularly in nonclinical young adults. This mixed-methods study examined the structure of emptiness and its associations with identity and personality functioning, health risk behaviors, and coping strategies in community young adults, a developmental period marked by identity and personality consolidation, and increased vulnerability to maladaptive behaviors. A total of 737 young adults (M age = 21.70; 66.6% female) completed online self-report measures and wrote personal narratives about their experience of emptiness. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on the Subjective Emptiness Scale and the Multidimensional Sense of Emptiness Scale. Quantitative analyses assessed associations with psychosocial factors, and narrative data were thematically analyzed for subjective experiences of emptiness and coping strategies in response to emptiness. Factor analyses revealed a three-factor structure: Feelings of Inner Emptiness, Absence of Relatedness, and Meaninglessness. Narrative analysis supported this structure. Experiences of emptiness were often described in physical terms and varied in frequency, chronicity, and triggers. Feelings of Inner Emptiness were strongly associated with identity disturbances, personality dysfunction, and greater engagement in self-harm and disordered eating. Furthermore, emptiness was linked to greater use of externalizing and distancing coping strategies, alongside adaptive strategies such as seeking support. These findings offer a more nuanced understanding of emptiness beyond clinical populations and highlight its connections to self- and interpersonal dysfunction, engagement in internalizing health risk behaviors, and avoidance-focused coping strategies. Longitudinal research is needed to investigate temporal pathways.