Risk and protective factors of self-harm in hospitalised women
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring the perceived risk and protective factors of self-harm in hospitalised women with a history of childhood abuse.
IRAS ID
288302
Contact name
Artur Brzozowski
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Univeristy of Birmingham
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 1 days
Research summary
Deliberate self-harm is the act of causing intentional harm to one’s own body. Hospital admissions for self-harm (inc. self-poisoning) reached 60,000 in the U.K. in the year ending 2019 (NHS, 2019). There is evidence to suggest that about half of the admitted individuals will engage in self harm repeatedly. A portion of these admissions will experience long-term, hospital-based treatment. It has been acknowledged that more frequent and severe Adverse Childhood Expereinces (ACE)are associated with an increased risk of repeated self-harm, particularly in females, with childhood abuse being a severe example of ACE (Serafini et al., 2017). However, the up-to-date research on the link between ACEs and self-harm frequently provides correlational results and fails to explore the underlying details of the relationship.
A plethora of treatments are offered to individuals who self-harm (Yuan et al., 2019). However, efficacy of an intervention varies with only about a half of the therapy types being effective (Calear et al., 2016). Therefore, it is import to understand ‘what works’ and ‘what does not work’ from the perspective of a service user. Gaining a better understanding of the function self-harm within hospitalised women can help inform risk assessment and management processes for those at risk of or currently self-harming. Exploring perceived effectiveness of intervention in those who self-harm with a history of childhood abuse may inform hospital-based interventions and policies, as well as aid community-based programmes. Lastly, exploring perceived risk and protective factors in those that self-harm with a history of childhood abuse can help inform risk assessment and management processes for those at risk of or currently self-harming.
Therefore, the current studies research questions are:
1. What is the function of self-harm in hospitalised women with a history of childhood abuse?
2. What are the factors that increase and alleviate the risk of individuals engaging in self-harm?REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/YH/0002
Date of REC Opinion
11 Feb 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion