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Parental detection of youth's self-harm behavior
1Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY 10010, USA. rm322@columbia.edu
Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior
|March 22, 2008
Summary
Parental detection of youth self-harm is low, with only 2.7% of parents recognizing the behavior. However, parental awareness of self-harm increases the likelihood of seeking professional help for adolescents.
Area of Science:
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Public Health
- Mental Health Services Research
Background:
- Youth self-harm is a significant public health concern with implications for future suicidality.
- Parental awareness and detection of self-harm behaviors are crucial for timely intervention and support.
- Understanding the factors influencing parental detection can improve identification rates and facilitate help-seeking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the rate at which parents detect self-harm behavior in their children.
- To identify predictors associated with parental detection of youth self-harm.
- To examine the relationship between parental detection and professional help-seeking for adolescent self-harm.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of data from 7,036 parent-child dyads from the 1999 and 2004 Surveys of Mental Health of Children and Young People in Great Britain.
- Comparison of self-reported youth self-harm behaviors with parental reports.
- Statistical analysis to identify predictors of parental detection and its association with help-seeking.
Main Results:
- Youth self-harm was reported by 6.6% of adolescents, but only 2.7% of parents detected it (kappa=0.30).
- Higher parental detection rates were associated with parents of majority White ethnicity, mothers of girls, parental psychological distress, older children, and children with emotional/behavioral problems.
- Parental detection of youth self-harm was significantly linked to a higher likelihood of professional help-seeking.
Conclusions:
- Parental detection of adolescent self-harm is notably low, highlighting a critical gap in identification.
- Specific demographic and clinical factors influence the accuracy of parental detection.
- Enhancing parental awareness and detection of youth self-harm is vital for improving access to mental health services.
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