Keywords
prevalence
comparative
adolescents
risk
information booklet
knowledge
How to Cite
Abstract
Adolescents are vulnerable to various life stresses and often adapt to negative coping mechanisms in the form of self-harm.
We designed a study to assesses the comparative prevalence, social determinants and risk of self-harm among cohorts of adolescent school children. We investigated the impact of a health education intervention on the knowledge of prevention of self-harm among public and independent/private school adolescents in New Delhi, India.
Method: Questionnaire data was collected for phase - I from (n = 100 each) adolescents of government and private schools, to determine risk and prevalence. Phase II data was acquired following the provision of an education booklet on prevention of self-harm from adolescents (government n=39 and private schools n=40) reporting moderate risk.
Results: The prevalence of self-harm was 40% among government and 38% among private school adolescents. There were 4% of adolescents in private and 1% in government schools who demonstrated moderate to high risk of self-harm. There was a significant association between self-harm and risk factors including impulsiveness, interpersonal relationships, academic, peer influence, abuse and media influence. Health Education was effective in increasing the knowledge of both cohorts on self-harm behaviour, and its prevention.
Conclusion: Our study demonstrates the benefit of health education intervention regarding awareness of self-harm behaviour.
References
Vikaspedia. Adolescent Growth and Development. [Internet]. [cited 2021 Jan 24]. Available from: https://vikaspedia.in/health/women-health/adolescent-health-1/management-of-adolescent-health/adolescent-growth-and-development
Remschmidt H, Nurcombe B, Belfer M, Sartorius N, Okasha A. The mental health of children and adolescents. Chichester: Jon Wiley and Sons. 2007.
Singh OP. Nonsuicidal self-injury: Implications for research and management. Indian J Psychiatry. 2018 Jul 1;60(3):259.
Sivasankari N, Shaiju B, Rahman J. A study to assess the self-harm behaviours among adolescents in a selected university of Delhi with a view to develop and disseminate an information booklet on prevention of self-harm behaviours. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR). 2016;5(2):1531-4.
Cyriac B B, D’Souza W, Peter Deepa. To Identify The Prevalence And Risk Factors Associated With Self Injurious Behaviour Among Adolescents Of Selected Colleges. Global Journal For Research Analysis. 2016 September;5(9):1-3.
Whitlock J, Purington A. The non-suicidal self-injury assessment tool. Cornell University (Cornell research program on self-injurious behaviors in youth and young adults). Available online at: http://www. selfinjury. bctr. cornell. edu. 2007.
Cipriano A, Cella S, Cotrufo P. Nonsuicidal self-injury: a systematic review. Frontiers in psychology. 2017 Nov 8;8:1946.
Saçarçelik G, Türkcan A, Güveli H, Yeşilbaş D. The prevalence of deliberate self-harm behavior and its association with sociodemographic features in patients referred to secondary care psychiatric clinic for adolescents and young. Dusunen Adam J Psychiatry Neurol Sci. 2011 Dec 15;253–64.
Aggarwal S, Patton G, Reavley N, Sreenivasan SA, Berk M. Youth self-harm in low- and middle-income countries: Systematic review of the risk and protective factors. Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2017 Jun;63(4):359–75.
Kharsati N, Bhola P. Patterns of non-suicidal self-injurious behaviours among college students in India. Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2015 Feb 1;61(1):39–49.
Townsend E, Wadman R, Sayal K, Armstrong M, Harroe C, Majumder P, et al. Uncovering key patterns in self-harm in adolescents: Sequence analysis using the Card Sort Task for Self-harm (CaTS). J Affect Disord. 2016 Dec 1;206:161–8.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2021 Array