School-level differences in self-harm and psychosocial problems associated with self-harm in adolescents.

Area of Science:

• Adolescent Health
• Psychosocial Epidemiology
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• The school environment significantly impacts adolescent emotional development and well-being.
• Limited research exists comparing self-harm and related psychosocial issues across diverse secondary school types.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate differences in self-harm prevalence and associated psychosocial risk factors among various secondary school types.
• To distinguish between school-level and individual-level effects on adolescent self-harm.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) longitudinal cohort study.
• Employed multilevel regression models to analyze self-harm and psychosocial factors across school types (single-sex/coeducational, fee-paying/non-fee-paying, disadvantaged/non-disadvantaged, religious ethos).

Main Results:

• Most self-harm variance originated at the individual level, not the school level.
• Girls in single-sex schools showed higher self-harm odds (OR 2.1); parental religion was associated with lower self-harm odds (OR 0.62).
• Disadvantaged schools had higher internalizing problems and truancy, but no significant overall self-harm differences were found based on socio-economic status or religious ethos.

Conclusions:

• Self-harm prevention efforts should prioritize individual-level interventions and support for high-risk groups, particularly girls.
• Well-being programs in disadvantaged schools should target internalizing problems and truancy to address common psychosocial risk factors for self-harm.