(duplicate) A qualitative study of female adolescent self-harm. Version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding female adolescent self-harm - a qualitative study NRES Committee East of England - Essex Number: 15/EE/01 85
IRAS ID
181229
Contact name
Paul. O Wilkinson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
CPFT and University of Cambridge (Joint sponsors)
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 9 days
Research summary
Self-harm among young people is a health issue in the UK, affecting at least one in six adolescents. Increased hospital admissions for self-harm are reportedly straining paediatric services nationally. The recent increase in figures represents the tip of the iceberg – many self-harming adolescents do not seek help and suffer without support. To improve access to and provision of services, we first need to understand what it means for a young person to self-harm. We need to enable the self-harming adolescent to voice their experience and in their own words tell us what it is like to experience this phenomenon. Understanding, I suggest, is key to helping and improving services. The 2004 NICE research recommendations for self-harm included using qualitative methods to conduct studies into the meaning of self-harm, including the exploration of intentionality.
We shall recruit 10 adolescent girls aged 13-17 years who self-harm from Cambridge community and in-patient child and adolescent mental health services. We shall carry out one single one hour interview with each adolescent asking about reasons for self-harm, what stops them self-harming, and the reactions of other people to self-harm.
We shall analyse the data using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). IPA is designed to explore and illustrate the personal experience and perceptions of a phenomenon, providing rich qualitative data. It is a flexible approach that centralises the individual, affording them an opportunity to voice their experiences. This method does not rely on proving hypotheses nor using constrictive questionnaires with pre defined questions. This flexible method is pertinent to the sample group, affording young people control over disclosure and maintaining a sense of power within the research process.
REC name
East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/EE/0185
Date of REC Opinion
16 Jun 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion