Utilisation and acceptability of formal and informal support for adolescents following self-harm before and during the first COVID-19 lockdown: results from a large-scale English schools survey
<strong>Background: </strong>Little is known about the perceived acceptability and usefulness of supports that adolescents have accessed following self-harm, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. <br><strong> Aims: </strong>To examine the utilisation and...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media
2022
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| _version_ | 1797107159993942016 |
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| author | Geulayov, G Borschmann, R Mansfield, K Hawton, K Moran, P Fazel, M |
| author_facet | Geulayov, G Borschmann, R Mansfield, K Hawton, K Moran, P Fazel, M |
| author_sort | Geulayov, G |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <strong>Background: </strong>Little is known about the perceived acceptability and usefulness of supports that adolescents have accessed following self-harm, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
<br><strong>
Aims: </strong>To examine the utilisation and acceptability of formal, informal, and online support accessed by adolescents following self-harm before and during the pandemic.
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Method: </strong>Cross-sectional survey (OxWell) of 10,560 secondary school students aged 12-18 years in the south of England. Information on self-harm, support(s) accessed after self-harm, and satisfaction with support received were obtained via a structured, self-report questionnaire. No tests for significance were conducted.
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Results: </strong>1,457 (12.5%) students reported having ever self-harmed and 789 (6.7%) reported self-harming during the first national lockdown. Informal sources of support were accessed by the greatest proportion of respondents (friends: 35.9%; parents: 25.0%). Formal sources of support were accessed by considerably fewer respondents (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: 12.1%; psychologist/ psychiatrist: 10.2%; general practitioner: 7.4%). Online support was accessed by 8.6% of respondents, and 38.3% reported accessing no support at all. Informal sources of support were rated as most helpful, followed by formal sources, and online support. Of the respondents who sought no support, 11.3% reported this as being helpful.
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Conclusions: </strong>More than a third of secondary school students in this sample did not seek any help following self-harm. The majority of those not seeking help did not find this to be a helpful way of coping. Further work needs to determine effective ways of overcoming barriers to help-seeking among adolescents who self-harm and improving perceived helpfulness of the supports accessed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:12:05Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:47b40b55-c9c9-4eed-adde-7ef398b808e2 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:12:05Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:47b40b55-c9c9-4eed-adde-7ef398b808e22022-07-01T13:10:09ZUtilisation and acceptability of formal and informal support for adolescents following self-harm before and during the first COVID-19 lockdown: results from a large-scale English schools surveyJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:47b40b55-c9c9-4eed-adde-7ef398b808e2EnglishSymplectic ElementsFrontiers Media2022Geulayov, GBorschmann, RMansfield, KHawton, KMoran, PFazel, M<strong>Background: </strong>Little is known about the perceived acceptability and usefulness of supports that adolescents have accessed following self-harm, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. <br><strong> Aims: </strong>To examine the utilisation and acceptability of formal, informal, and online support accessed by adolescents following self-harm before and during the pandemic. <br><strong> Method: </strong>Cross-sectional survey (OxWell) of 10,560 secondary school students aged 12-18 years in the south of England. Information on self-harm, support(s) accessed after self-harm, and satisfaction with support received were obtained via a structured, self-report questionnaire. No tests for significance were conducted. <br><strong> Results: </strong>1,457 (12.5%) students reported having ever self-harmed and 789 (6.7%) reported self-harming during the first national lockdown. Informal sources of support were accessed by the greatest proportion of respondents (friends: 35.9%; parents: 25.0%). Formal sources of support were accessed by considerably fewer respondents (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: 12.1%; psychologist/ psychiatrist: 10.2%; general practitioner: 7.4%). Online support was accessed by 8.6% of respondents, and 38.3% reported accessing no support at all. Informal sources of support were rated as most helpful, followed by formal sources, and online support. Of the respondents who sought no support, 11.3% reported this as being helpful. <br><strong> Conclusions: </strong>More than a third of secondary school students in this sample did not seek any help following self-harm. The majority of those not seeking help did not find this to be a helpful way of coping. Further work needs to determine effective ways of overcoming barriers to help-seeking among adolescents who self-harm and improving perceived helpfulness of the supports accessed. |
| spellingShingle | Geulayov, G Borschmann, R Mansfield, K Hawton, K Moran, P Fazel, M Utilisation and acceptability of formal and informal support for adolescents following self-harm before and during the first COVID-19 lockdown: results from a large-scale English schools survey |
| title | Utilisation and acceptability of formal and informal support for adolescents following self-harm before and during the first COVID-19 lockdown: results from a large-scale English schools survey |
| title_full | Utilisation and acceptability of formal and informal support for adolescents following self-harm before and during the first COVID-19 lockdown: results from a large-scale English schools survey |
| title_fullStr | Utilisation and acceptability of formal and informal support for adolescents following self-harm before and during the first COVID-19 lockdown: results from a large-scale English schools survey |
| title_full_unstemmed | Utilisation and acceptability of formal and informal support for adolescents following self-harm before and during the first COVID-19 lockdown: results from a large-scale English schools survey |
| title_short | Utilisation and acceptability of formal and informal support for adolescents following self-harm before and during the first COVID-19 lockdown: results from a large-scale English schools survey |
| title_sort | utilisation and acceptability of formal and informal support for adolescents following self harm before and during the first covid 19 lockdown results from a large scale english schools survey |
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