Home > Deliberate self-harm in adolescents: Comparison between those who receive help following self-harm and those who do not.

Ystgaard, Mette and Arensman, Ella and Hawton, K and Madge, Nicola and van Heeringen, Kees and Hewitt, Anthea and Jan de Wilde, Erik and De Leo, Diego and Fekete, Sandor (2009) Deliberate self-harm in adolescents: Comparison between those who receive help following self-harm and those who do not. Journal of Adolescence, 32, (4), pp. 875-891. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2008.10.010.

This international comparative study addresses differences between adolescents who engage in deliberate self-harm (DSH) and who receive help following the DSH episode versus those who do not. A standardised self-report questionnaire was completed by pupils aged 14–17 in Australia, Belgium, England, Hungary, Ireland, The Netherlands, and Norway (n = 30 532). An act of DSH in the year prior to the study was reported by 1660 participants. Nearly half (48.4%) had not received any help following DSH, 32.8% had received help from their social network only and 18.8% from health services. Except for Hungary, cross-national comparisons revealed remarkably similar findings. Adolescents who had been in contact with health services following DSH reported more often a wish to die, lethal methods, alcohol/drug problems and DSH in the family compared to those who had not. However, those who received no help or help from their social network only were also heavily burdened.


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