TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2020//
TI  - A qualitative study of how self-harm starts and continues among Chinese adolescents
JO  - BJPsych open
A1  - Chen, Runsen
A1  - Wang, Yuanyuan
A1  - Liu, Li
A1  - Lu, Li
A1  - Wilson, Amanda
A1  - Gong, Shuxiao
A1  - Zhu, Yingrong
A1  - Sheng, Caihua
A1  - Zeng, Ying
A1  - Li, Yamin
A1  - Ou, Jianjun
SP  - e20
EP  - e20
VL  - 7
IS  - 1
N2  - BACKGROUND: It is essential to investigate the experiences behind why adolescents start and continue to self-harm in order to develop targeted treatment and prevent future self-harming behaviours.     AIMS: The aims of this study are to understand the motivations for initiating and repeating nonfatal self-harm, the different methods used between first-time and repeated self-harm and the reasons that adolescents do not seek help from health services.     METHODS: Adolescents with repeated nonfatal self-harm experiences were recruited to participate in individual, semi-structured qualitative interviews. The interviews were analysed with interpretative phenomenological analysis.     RESULTS: We found that nonfatal self-harm among adolescents occurred comparatively early and was often triggered by specific reasons. However, the subsequent nonfatal self-harm could be causeless, with repeated self-harm becoming a maladaptive coping strategy to handle daily pressure and negative emotions. The choice of tools used was related to the ease of accessibility, the life-threatening risk and the size of the scars. Adolescents often concealed their scars on purpose, which made early identification insufficient. Peer influence, such as online chat groups encouraging self-harm by discussing and sharing self-harm pictures, could also lead to increased self-harm. The results also included participants' opinions on how to stop nonfatal self-harm and their dissatisfaction with the current healthcare services.     CONCLUSIONS: The current study provides important implications both for early identification and interventions for adolescents who engage in repeated nonfatal self-harm, and for individualising treatment planning that benefits them. It is also worthwhile to further investigate how peer influence and social media may affect self-harm in adolescents.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 2056-4724
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2020.144
ID  - ref1
ER  -