One in five schoolgirls is victim of self-harming, claims expert

Published on Tuesday 25 September 2007 00:05

ONE in five girls in secondary schools self-harm, according to research to be presented today at Britain's largest conference on suicide prevention.

A survey of 2,000 pupils, primarily 15 to 16-year-olds from schools in Glasgow and Stirling, revealed that 20 per cent of girls had self-harmed in the past compared to just 7 per cent of boys.

Dr Rory O'Connor at Stirling University found factors associated with self-harm among teenage girls included bullying, physical or sexual abuse and concerns over their sexual orientation.

Girls who cut themselves with razors, burned their skin or repeatedly punched or slapped themselves were found to be more depressed, impulsive and had lower self-esteem. It was also found that such girls had "lower optimism and higher social perfectionism" than those who did not self-harm.

In males, the distinguishing factors between those who self-harmed and those who did not were smoking, experience of bullying, worries over sexual orientation, anxiety and a family history of self-harm.

The survey will be presented today at the second national conference of Scotland's Suicide Information Research and Evidence Network (SIREN) which takes place at the Science Centre in Glasgow and will be attended by almost 300 researchers and frontline workers as well as those affected by suicide. The conference is funded by Choose Life, Scotland's national strategy to prevent suicide.

Also addressing the conference will be Dawn Griesbach, an independent social researcher who has conducted an in-depth study on the links between self-harm and suicide. Her research with 20 young people, aged between 14 and 20, showed the average age when self harm began was 12.5 years, while the first suicide attempt came at 16 years.

The most common reasons given for beginning to self-harm were being bullied or ostracised at school; being abused or neglected at home and/or having a serious argument with parents or friends.

The interviewees said at the time of self-harming they felt lonely, isolated, depressed, out of control, frustrated, stressed and/or worthless.

The link between self-harm and attempted suicide was a matter of debate among those who had done both. While one group recognised a strong link with self-harm on a sliding scale that ended with a suicide attempt, others saw them as completely separate.

It was also discovered that among some, self-harming became more frequent just before a suicide attempt, while others stopped altogether as they said self-harm "wasn't working anymore".

Last night, Dawn Griesbah, said: "Self-harm is a symptom that something is not right, but if that issue is not addressed then over a period of time that symptom can develop into despair and this can lead to a suicide attempt."

In her report, she writes: "On average, young people attempted suicide four to five years after they began self-harming. This period provides a crucial window of opportunity to prevent suicide."

The suicide rate in Scotland is the highest in the UK - almost double the rate in England. The Government's Choose Life strategy is aiming to reduce suicides to 80per cent by 2013.