Family experiences of adolescent self-harm
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Family experiences of adolescent self-harm
IRAS ID
269503
Contact name
Helen Griffiths
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 27 days
Research summary
Adolescent self-harm is common in Scotland, with approximately 1 in 10 young people reporting at least one incident of self-harm by age 16. Adolescent self-harm is associated with negative health outcomes, including attempted and completed suicide. Research suggests that the family environment is influential in both the development of self-harm and in supporting young people who engage in self-harm. However, little research exists examining how families communicate about self-harm, or how adolescent self-harm is experienced by the siblings of those affected. Better understanding of these family processes could lead to more effective support for families and family-based interventions to reduce the incidence of adolescent self-harm. This research will be a multifaceted investigation of family experiences of adolescent self-harm.
Work package 1 (WP1) aims to investigate “How do adolescents and caregivers communicate with each other about self-harm?” and will recruit young people aged 12-18, accessing NHS Lothian Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), who are self-harming or have previously, and one of their caregivers to participate in individual qualitative interviews lasting one hour.
Work package 2 (WP2) aims to investigate “How is adolescent self-harm experienced by siblings?”. Siblings (aged 12-19) of young people with a history of self-harm (aged 12-18) will be approached to participate in individual qualitative interviews lasting one hour, where they will be asked about their experiences of having a brother or sister who self-harms.
The interviews for both work packages will be conducted in NHS Lothian CAMHS venues to ensure privacy for participants, encourage open discussion and more effectively manage risk to participants and researchers. This research will use grounded theory methodology to analyse the data collected and form a theory of family experiences of adolescent self-harm.
REC name
South East Scotland REC 01
REC reference
20/SS/0015
Date of REC Opinion
6 Mar 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion