Clinical management of deliberate self-harm in young people: the need for evidence-based approaches to reduce repetition

Burns, Jane; Dudley, Michael; Hazell, Philip; Patton, George C.

doi:10.1111/j.1440-1614.2005.01532.x

Cited by 20 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 35 publications

(31 reference statements)

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“…The identification of a low level of professional help‐seeking in the present study is a cause for concern, as the assessment of adolescents who self‐harm, followed by effective intervention, is crucial to help reduce the repetition of self‐harm (Burns et al . ). It is of note that approximately half of the young people in this study who self‐harmed had done so more than once, and this repetition might have been influenced by the lack of mental health assessment and intervention following the first episode of self‐harm (Bergen et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Self‐harm in young people: Prevalence, associated factors, and help‐seeking in school‐going adolescents

Doyle

Treacy

Sheridan

2015

Int J Mental Health Nurs

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Adolescent self-harm is recognised as a serious public health problem however there is little reliable comparative data on its prevalence or characteristics or on the extent of help-seeking for self-harm. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence and associated factors of adolescent self-harm in an urban region in Ireland and to investigate help-seeking behaviours for self-harm. This was a cross-sectional study of 856 school-going adolescents employing an anonymous self-report questionnaire. A lifetime history of self-harm was reported by 12.1% of adolescents. Factors independently associated with self-harm included exposure to self-harm of a friend/family member.Professional help-seeking was uncommon prior to (9%) and after (12%) self-harm.Furthermore, only 6.9% of adolescents presented to hospital as a result of their last selfharm act. These findings indicate that self-harm is common in adolescents however seeking professional help is not a common phenomenon and those who present to hospital represent the 'tip of the iceberg' of adolescent self-harm. Identifying the prevalence of self-harm and associated factors in addition to help-seeking behaviours in young people is important to determine the preventative programmes to target 'at-risk' groups. Mental health nurses have an important and increasing role to play in such school-based initiatives.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Self‐harm in young people: Prevalence, associated factors, and help‐seeking in school‐going adolescents

Doyle

Treacy

Sheridan

2015

Int J Mental Health Nurs

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“…Self-harm (any act of self-poisoning or self-injury irrespective of motivation or intent) affects approximately one in every five to ten adolescents and is indicative of psychological distress, often repetitive, and strongly associated with future suicide risk (Burns, Dudley, Hazell, & Patton, 2005;Chan et al, 2016;Doyle, Treacy, & Sheridan, 2015;Madge et al, 2008). Selfharm is a common reason for young people presenting to general hospital and specialist mental health services (Shanmugavadivel, Sands, & Wood, 2014;Stafford, Hutchby, Karim, & O'Reilly, 2014).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“These Things Don’t Work.” Young People’s Views on Harm Minimization Strategies as a Proxy for Self-Harm: A Mixed Methods Approach

Wadman¹,

Nielsen²,

O’Raw

et al. 2019

Archives of Suicide Research

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Although UK clinical guidelines make tentative recommendations for "harm minimization" strategies for repeated self-harm, this is in the absence of empirical evidence supporting their acceptability or effectiveness. We explore young people's views of harm minimization strategies (e.g., snapping elastic bands on skin, drawing on skin with red ink), as a proxy for self-harm. In this mixed methods study we examine data (secondary analysis) from: (1) an online questionnaire (N ¼ 758) observing the frequency of these strategies being used as a form of self-harm, and as a form of alternative coping (viewed as distinct from self-harming), and (2) semi-structured interviews (N ¼ 45), using thematic analysis to identify themes related to harm minimization. Predominant themes suggest that many young people viewed harm minimization strategies as a proxy for self-harm as ineffective. Where such strategies were reported as helpful, their utility was reported to be short-lived or situation-specific. Findings from both studies indicate that some young people described using harm minimization (e.g., elastic band snapping) as a form of self-harm (e.g., to break the skin). Harm minimization strategies should not be recommended in isolation and their use must be monitored. Further research is urgently needed to develop an evidence base that informs practice.

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“…One possible explanation for this might be that we are not prioritising the types of activities that are likely to reduce suicide risk. Although much is known about the epidemiology of suicide, there has, to date, been relatively little intervention research in the field of suicide prevention, 10 in particular among youth, 11,12 and including in Australia. We previously conducted a study examining the extent and nature of suicide-prevention research being conducted in Australia during the period 1999-2006 and found that although young people were a highly researched group in terms of published articles, most studies were epidemiological in nature reporting on rates of, and risk factors for, suicide, as opposed to studies reporting on the effectiveness of individual interventions.…”

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confidence: 99%

Research priorities in suicide prevention: an examination of Australian-based research 2007–11

Robinson

Pirkis

2014

Aust. Health Review

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Although the focus on youth is welcome, the lack of intervention studies is disappointing. Given that rates of suicide and related behaviour remain high, there is a clear need for a stronger body of intervention research that can inform national policy, if we are to successfully develop effective approaches to reducing suicide risk. WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE TOPIC? Although the prevention of youth suicide has been a national priority for some time, rates of suicide and suicide-related behaviour remain high among young Australians. Much is known about the epidemiology of suicide; however, relatively little is known about which interventions may be effective in reducing this risk. Previous research suggests that although youth receive a reasonable amount of research attention in Australia, the majority of studies focus on epidemiological as opposed to intervention research. WHAT DOES THIS PAPER ADD? This paper reviews all suicide research that has been conducted in Australia between 2007 and 2011 in order to examine how much attention is currently given to studies relating to youth, and the relative priority given to intervention and epidemiological studies. Our findings support those reported previously, which suggest that although a significant proportion of suicide research focuses on youth, relatively little attention continues to be given to intervention studies. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTITIONERS? This paper argues that further intervention research is needed if we are to build a sufficiently strong evidence base that can effectively inform policy development and guide best practice when it comes to preventing youth suicide in Australia.

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Clinical management of deliberate self-harm in young people: the need for evidence-based approaches to reduce repetition

Cited by 20 publications

References 35 publications

Self‐harm in young people: Prevalence, associated factors, and help‐seeking in school‐going adolescents

Self‐harm in young people: Prevalence, associated factors, and help‐seeking in school‐going adolescents

“These Things Don’t Work.” Young People’s Views on Harm Minimization Strategies as a Proxy for Self-Harm: A Mixed Methods Approach

Research priorities in suicide prevention: an examination of Australian-based research 2007–11

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