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The Social Norms of Suicidal and Self-Harming Behaviours in Scottish Adolescents.

ABSTRACT: Although the suicidal and self-harming behaviour of individuals is often associated with similar behaviours in people they know, little is known about the impact of perceived social norms on those behaviours. In a range of other behavioural domains (e.g., alcohol consumption, smoking, eating behaviours) perceived social norms have been found to strongly predict individuals' engagement in those behaviours, although discrepancies often exist between perceived and reported norms. Interventions which align perceived norms more closely with reported norms have been effective in reducing damaging behaviours. The current study aimed to explore whether the Social Norms Approach is applicable to suicidal and self-harming behaviours in adolescents. Participants were 456 pupils from five Scottish high-schools (53% female, mean age = 14.98 years), who completed anonymous, cross-sectional surveys examining reported and perceived norms around suicidal and self-harming behaviour. Friedman's ANOVA with post-hoc Wilcoxen signed-ranks tests indicated that proximal groups were perceived as less likely to engage in or be permissive of suicidal and self-harming behaviours than participants' reported themselves, whilst distal groups tended towards being perceived as more likely to do so. Binary logistic regression analyses identified a number of perceived norms associated with reported norms, with close friends' norms positively associated with all outcome variables. The Social Norms Approach may be applicable to suicidal and self-harming behaviour, but associations between perceived and reported norms and predictors of reported norms differ to those found in other behavioural domains. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are considered.

SUBMITTER: Quigley J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5369143 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The Social Norms of Suicidal and Self-Harming Behaviours in Scottish Adolescents.

Quigley Jody J Rasmussen Susan S McAlaney John J

International journal of environmental research and public health 20170315 3

Although the suicidal and self-harming behaviour of individuals is often associated with similar behaviours in people they know, little is known about the impact of perceived social norms on those behaviours. In a range of other behavioural domains (e.g., alcohol consumption, smoking, eating behaviours) perceived social norms have been found to strongly predict individuals' engagement in those behaviours, although discrepancies often exist between perceived and reported norms. Interventions whic ...[more]

PMID: 28294999

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Project description:BackgroundResearch suggests that being exposed to the suicide of others increases risk of subsequent suicidal or self-harming thoughts or behaviours. What is less clear is whether this applies to adolescents, and if the risk exceeds that following other causes of death, which has implications on suicide prevention approaches. This study aimed to systematically review the evidence on adolescent bereavement experiences by different causes to address this gap.MethodsA comprehensive literature search using four databases (MEDLINE, PsycInfo, Web of Science, and Embase) identified 21 studies which measured suicidal or self-harm outcomes among bereaved adolescents aged between 12 to 18 years old. The literature was screened, data was extracted using pre-piloted forms, and risk of bias was assessed using versions of the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale; a proportion of papers were double extracted and assessed for bias. The review has been registered with PROSPERO (CRD42016051125).ResultsA narrative synthesis of the literature demonstrated divergent findings depending on the outcome being measured. Suicide bereavement appears to be strongly associated with suicide mortality among parentally bereaved youth, while self-harm or non-fatal suicide attempts (either presenting to hospital or self-reported) showed mixed evidence. Suicidal ideation was not uniquely associated with suicide bereavement. An exploration of circumstances surrounding the death, characteristics of the person who died, and characteristics of the young person across each outcome measure suggested that earlier experiences of loss, shorter timeframes following the death, and maternal death are associated with particularly elevated risk of suicidal outcomes.ConclusionsFindings suggest that suicide loss is associated with subsequent suicide, and may be associated with non-fatal self-harm. A detailed account of the risk and protective factors surrounding suicide bereavement among young people is crucial to understand the pathways through which suicidal behaviours develop. Researchers, policy makers and practitioners with an interest in suicide prevention will benefit from clarity around the needs of young bereaved individuals.

Project description:BackgroundWhereas suicide remains in the top 12 leading causes of death among young people aged 10-24 in sub-Saharan Africa, little is known about suicidal behaviours among adolescents in Liberia. We aimed to estimate the 12-month prevalence and describe some of the correlates of suicide behaviours (ideation, planning, and attempt) among school-going adolescents in Liberia.MethodsWe analysed data from the 2017 Liberia Global School-based Student Health Survey conducted nationwide among secondary school students. We performed bivariate and multivariable analyses to assess the correlates of suicidal ideation, planning, and attempt in the previous 12 months.ResultsOf the 2744 students, 26.8% reported suicidal ideation, 36.5% made a specific plan to attempt suicide and 33.7% attempted suicide during the 12 months preceding the survey. In the final adjusted logistic models, bullying victimisation and food insecurity were associated with increased odds of ideation, planning, and attempt. Whereas no factor was uniquely associated with suicidal ideation, having many close friends, and parental monitoring were associated with the increased odds of suicidal planning only. Leisure-time sedentary behaviour was associated with increased odds of suicidal planning and attempt. Cannabis use, alcohol drunkenness, being physically attacked, and parental supervision were uniquely associated with increased odds of suicidal attempt, while parental understanding and having a smaller number of close friends were uniquely associated with reduced odds of suicidal attempt.ConclusionsThe relatively high prevalence estimates of suicide behaviours and the multi-contextual nature of the associated factors warrant the need for the design and implementation of universal and multi-level, collaborative targeted intervention efforts towards the prevention of the onset of ideation, planning, and attempt, and the possible transition to deaths by suicide among school-going adolescents in Liberia.

Project description:Background Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people worldwide and remains a major public health concern. Research indicates that negative social contexts involving familial and peer relationships, have far-reaching influences on levels of suicidal behaviours in later life. Previous systematic reviews have focused on evaluating associations between negative life events such as abuse and bullying in childhood and subsequent self-harm or suicidality. However, the association between adolescent experiences of humiliation and shame, and subsequent self-harm or suicidal behaviour among children and young adults has not been well examined. As such, this systematic review is conducted to examine the prevalence and association between humiliation and shame and self-harm, suicidal ideation, and death by suicide among adolescents and young adults. Methods A systematic literature search in extant electronic databases including; MEDLINE, Web of Science Core Collection, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Embase will be conducted to identify potential studies. Google Scholar, and the reference list of the retrieved articles and/or previous systematic reviews in this area, will also be scanned to identify further potential studies. ProQuest will be searched to identify relevant studies available within grey literature. There are no restrictions on the date of publications. Based on our initial review, the following terms were identified: Population: Adolescent (MESH), young adult (MESH), teen, teenage. Exposure: Humiliation, degradation, shame (MESH) or embarrassment (MESH), harassment victimisation, abasement. Outcome: Self-injurious behaviour (MESH), suicide (MESH), suicide attempted (MESH), suicide completed (MESH), self-harm, intentional self-injury, deliberate self-harm, overdose, deliberate self-poisoning, non-suicidal self-injury, self-mutilation, suicidal thought, suicidal ideation, suicidal intent, suicide. At least one term from each category will be used for conducting the literature search. All original quantitative studies published in the English language which examined the prevalence or association between humiliation or shame and self-harm and/or suicidal ideation and/or completed suicide will be included. The studies will be assessed for methodological quality using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tools. Narrative synthesis will be performed for all of the studies. If the studies are sufficiently homogenous, the results will be pooled for a meta-analysis. This systematic review protocol followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Protocol (PRISMA-P) guidelines. The protocol has been registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) [CRD42022289843]. Discussion This is the first review to synthesise evidence on the prevalence of, and associations between the experiences of humiliation and shame and subsequent self-harm and/or suicidal behaviours among adolescents and young adults. As there is growing evidence on increased self-harm among this age group, it is important to identify population-specific risk factors for self-harm and suicidality which will have significance in formulating tailored and effective treatment and therapeutic services for adolescents and young adults.

Dataset Information

The Social Norms of Suicidal and Self-Harming Behaviours in Scottish Adolescents.

Publications

The Social Norms of Suicidal and Self-Harming Behaviours in Scottish Adolescents.

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