Self-harm history from adolescence to young adulthood
This longitudinal study explored self-harm behaviour during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood. Self-harm is ‘a global health problem and is one of the strongest predictors of completed suicide. Self-harm is especially common in 15–24 year old women, a group in whom rates of serious self-harm seem to be rising’ (Moran, Coffey, Romaniuk, Olsson, Borschmann, Carlin & Patton, 2011, p. 1).
A sample of 1943 adolescents was recruited from 44 Catholic, government and independent schools across Victoria between1992 and 2008. Data was obtained from questionnaires and telephone interviews at seven waves of follow-up, commencing at approximately 16 years and ending at mean age 29•0 years (p. 1).
In the adolescent phase 10% of girls and 6% of boys reported self-harm. During late adolescence there was a ‘substantial reduction in the frequency of self-harm. 7% of participants who reported self-harm during adolescence reported no further self-harm in young adulthood, with a stronger continuity in girls than boys’ (p. 1). The researchers also noted that self-harm during adolescence was associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, antisocial behaviour, high-risk alcohol use, cannabis use and cigarette smoking. Therefore ‘adolescent symptoms of depression and anxiety were clearly associated with incident self-harm in young adulthood’ (p. 1).
The researchers concluded that most adolescent self-harming resolved spontaneously. ‘However, young people who self-harm commonly had associated mental health problems that might not resolve without treatment. These associated mental disorders should be a primary focus of early intervention ‘(p. 6).
Moran, P., Coffey, C., Romaniuk, H., Olsson, C., Borschmann, R., Carlin, J., & Patton, G. (2011). The natural history of self-harm from adolescence to young adulthood: a population-based cohort study. The Lancet. Available online November 17. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(11)61141-0