Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 29, 2026

Chronic Social Defeat Stress in Early Adolescent Male Mice
Published on: January 24, 2025
Deliberate self-harm in children and adolescents: association with social deprivation
Agnes Ayton1, Hufrize Rasool, David Cottrell
1West End Child and Family Service, 2062-68 Hessle Road, Hessle HU13 9NW, North Humberside, UK. A.K.Ayton@hull.ac.uk
Background:
It has been demonstrated that adult suicidal behaviour is associated with unemployment and social deprivation. The association between self-harm and social deprivation in young people is less clear.
Aims:
To examine the relationship between social deprivation and deliberate self-harm in children and adolescents in an UK district.
Method:
Computer records of patients under 18 years of age presenting with self-harm at the district casualty department were analysed in Hull and East Yorkshire. The relationship with social deprivation was examined using Townsend scores.
Results:
730 young people presented with self-harm during a period of two years. Socio-economic deprivation was associated with overdose, self-injury, and poisoning by illicit substances. After controlling for the proportion of single parent households, moving households with children, and adult long-term sickness in each ward, partial correlations remained significant between overdose, self-injury, and Townsend scores.
Conclusions:
The results highlight the importance of socio-economic deprivation in the aetiology of deliberate self-harm in young people. Primary and secondary prevention programs cannot be successful without taking this into consideration.
Related Concept Videos
Bullying
Conduct Disorder
Self-Discrepancy and Its Effects
Social Foundations of Self II: The Generalized Other
Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping
Sources of Self-Esteem I: Family Experience