A qualitative study of how self-harm starts and continues among Chinese adolescents

View/ Open
Issue Date
2020-12-17Author
Chen, Runsen
Wang, Yuanyuan
Liu, Li
Lu, Li
Wilson, Amanda
Gong, Shuxiao
Zhu, Yingrong
Sheng, Caihua
Zeng, Ying
Li, Yamin
Ou, Jianjun
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
Rights
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Background
It is essential to investigate the experiences behind why adolescents start and continue to self-harm in order to develop targeted treatment and prevent future self-harming behaviours.Aims
The aims of this study are to understand the motivations for initiating and repeating nonfatal self-harm, the different methods used between first-time and repeated self-harm and the reasons that adolescents do not seek help from health services.Methods
Adolescents with repeated nonfatal self-harm experiences were recruited to participate in individual, semi-structured qualitative interviews. The interviews were analysed with interpretative phenomenological analysis.Results
We found that nonfatal self-harm among adolescents occurred comparatively early and was often triggered by specific reasons. However, the subsequent nonfatal self-harm could be causeless, with repeated self-harm becoming a maladaptive coping strategy to handle daily pressure and negative emotions. The choice of tools used was related to the ease of accessibility, the life-threatening risk and the size of the scars. Adolescents often concealed their scars on purpose, which made early identification insufficient. Peer influence, such as online chat groups encouraging self-harm by discussing and sharing self-harm pictures, could also lead to increased self-harm. The results also included participants’ opinions on how to stop nonfatal self-harm and their dissatisfaction with the current healthcare services.Conclusions
The current study provides important implications both for early identification and interventions for adolescents who engage in repeated nonfatal self-harm, and for individualising treatment planning that benefits them. It is also worthwhile to further investigate how peer influence and social media may affect self-harm in adolescents.
Collections
Citation
Chen, R., Wang, Y., Liu, L., Lu, L., Wilson, A., Gong, S., Zhu, Y., Sheng, C., Zeng, Y., Li, Y., & Ou, J. (2020). A qualitative study of how self-harm starts and continues among Chinese adolescents. BJPsych open, 7(1), e20. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2020.144
Items in KU ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
We want to hear from you! Please share your stories about how Open Access to this item benefits YOU.