Dataset Information

Adolescent self-harm and suicidal thoughts in the ALSPAC cohort: a self-report survey in England.

ABSTRACT: Substantial numbers of adolescents self-harm, but the majority of cases do not reach the attention of medical services, making community studies essential. The prevalence of suicidal thoughts and plans at this age, and the inter-relationships between suicidal thoughts, plans and self-harm remain largely unexplored.Cross-sectional analysis of self-reported questionnaire data collected from members of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) birth cohort, England. Respondents (n?=?4810) were aged 16-17?years old and have been followed up since birth.Altogether 905 (18.8%) respondents had ever self-harmed. The prevalence of lifetime self-harm was higher in females (25.6%) than males (9.1%). The most commonly used method was self-cutting: this was used alone or in combination in 73.5% of episodes, compared to 10.0% who took overdoses alone or in combination with other methods. Of those who reported self-harm, 25.3% wanted to die during the most recent episode. Concurrent depression was associated with a greatly increased risk of self-harm (OR 5.43). Only 12.4% of participants sought medical help following their most recent episode of self-harm, although this figure was higher (30.1%) where self-harm was carried out with desire to die. Of the whole sample, 15.8% had ever thought of killing themselves, and 4.3% had ever made plans to kill themselves. Compared to those who had never self-harmed, those who had self-harmed but not wanted to die during the most recent episode were at increased risk of ever having had suicidal thoughts (37.6% compared to 7.8% ?2 =102.3, p?

SUBMITTER: Kidger J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3439325 | biostudies-other | 2012 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Adolescent self-harm and suicidal thoughts in the ALSPAC cohort: a self-report survey in England.

Kidger Judi J Heron Jon J Lewis Glyn G Evans Jonathan J Gunnell David D

BMC psychiatry 20120627

<h4>Background</h4>Substantial numbers of adolescents self-harm, but the majority of cases do not reach the attention of medical services, making community studies essential. The prevalence of suicidal thoughts and plans at this age, and the inter-relationships between suicidal thoughts, plans and self-harm remain largely unexplored.<h4>Method</h4>Cross-sectional analysis of self-reported questionnaire data collected from members of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) bi ...[more]

PMID: 22737989

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Project description:BackgroundSuicidal thoughts and non-suicidal self-harm are common in adolescents and are strongly associated with suicide attempts. We aimed to identify predictors of future suicide attempts in these high-risk groups.MethodsParticipants were from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a population-based birth cohort study in the UK. The sample included 456 adolescents who reported suicidal thoughts and 569 who reported non-suicidal self-harm at 16 years of age. Logistic regression analyses were used to explore associations between a wide range of prospectively recorded risk factors and future suicide attempts, assessed at the age of 21 years.Findings38 (12%) of 310 participants with suicidal thoughts and 46 (12%) of 380 participants who had engaged in non-suicidal self-harm reported having attempted suicide for the first time by the follow-up at 21 years of age. Among participants with suicidal thoughts, the strongest predictors of transition to attempts were non-suicidal self-harm (odds ratio [OR] 2·78, 95% CI 1·35-5·74; p=0·0059), cannabis use (2·61, 1·11-6·14; p=0·029), other illicit drug use (2·47, 1·02-5·96; p=0·045), exposure to self-harm (family 2·03, 0·93-4·44, p=0·076; friend 1·85, 0·93-3·69, p=0·081), and higher levels of the personality type intellect/openness (1·62, 1·06-2·46; p=0·025). Among participants with non-suicidal self-harm at baseline, the strongest predictors were cannabis use (OR 2·14, 95% CI 1·04-4·41; p=0·038), other illicit drug use (2·17, 1·10-4·27; p=0·025), sleep problems (waking in the night 1·91, 0·95-3·84, p=0·069; insufficient sleep 1·97, 1·02-3·81, p=0·043), and lower levels of the personality type extraversion (0·71, 0·49-1·03; p=0·068).InterpretationMost adolescents who think about suicide or engage in non-suicidal self-harm will not make an attempt on their life. Many commonly cited risk factors were not associated with transition to suicide attempt among these high-risk groups. Our findings suggest that asking about substance use, non-suicidal self-harm, sleep, personality traits, and exposure to self-harm could inform risk assessments, and might help clinicians to identify which adolescents are at greatest risk of attempting suicide in the future.FundingAmerican Foundation for Suicide Prevention, National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at the University Hospitals Bristol National Health Service Foundation Trust, and the University of Bristol.

Project description:ObjectiveVictimized adolescents have an increased risk of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors. However, poor understanding of causal and non-causal mechanisms underlying this observed risk limits the development of interventions to prevent premature death in adolescents. This study tested whether pre-existing family-wide and individual vulnerabilities account for victimized adolescents' increased risk of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors.MethodParticipants were 2,232 British children followed from birth to 18 years of age as part of the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study. Adolescent victimization (maltreatment, neglect, sexual victimization, family violence, peer/sibling victimization, cyber victimization, and crime victimization) was assessed through interviews with participants and co-informant questionnaires at the 18-year assessment. Suicidal ideation, self-harm, and suicide attempt in adolescence were assessed through interviews with participants at 18 years.ResultsVictimized adolescents had an increased risk of suicidal ideation (odds ratio [OR] 2.40, 95% CI 2.11-2.74), self-harm (OR 2.38, 95% CI 2.10-2.69), and suicide attempt (OR 3.14, 95% CI 2.54-3.88). Co-twin control and propensity score matching analyses showed that these associations were largely accounted for by pre-existing familial and individual vulnerabilities, respectively. Over and above their prior vulnerabilities, victimized adolescents still showed a modest increase in risk for suicidal ideation (OR 1.45, 95%CI 1.10-1.91) and self-harm (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.18-1.91) but not for suicide attempt (OR 1.28, 95% CI 0.83-1.98).ConclusionRisk for self-injurious thoughts and behaviors in victimized adolescents is explained only in part by the experience of victimization. Pre-existing vulnerabilities account for a large proportion of the risk. Therefore, effective interventions to prevent premature death in victimized adolescents should not only target the experience of victimization but also address pre-existing vulnerabilities.

Dataset Information

Adolescent self-harm and suicidal thoughts in the ALSPAC cohort: a self-report survey in England.

Publications

Adolescent self-harm and suicidal thoughts in the ALSPAC cohort: a self-report survey in England.

Similar Datasets

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