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Appreciating Complexity in Adolescent Self-Harm Risk Factors: Psychological Profiling in a Longitudinal Community Sample

Journal of Youth and Adolescence volume 47, pages 916–931 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

Past research identifies a number of risk factors for adolescent self-harm, but often fails to account for overlap between these factors. This study investigated the underlying, broader concepts by identifying different psychological profiles among adolescents. We then compared new self-harm rates over a six-month period across different psychological profiles. Australian high school students (n = 326, 68.1% female) completed a questionnaire including a broad range of psychological and socioenvironmental risk and protective factors. Non-hierarchical cluster analysis produced six groups with different psychological profiles at baseline and rate of new self-harm at follow-up. The lowest rate was 1.4% in a group that appeared psychologically healthy; the highest rate was 37.5% in a group that displayed numerous psychological difficulties. Four groups with average self-harm had varied psychological profiles including low impulsivity, anxiety, impulsivity, and poor use of positive coping strategies. Identifying multiple profiles with distinct psychological characteristics can improve detection, guide prevention, and tailor treatment.

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Author Contributions

S.S. participated in writing, design, and analysis, and carried out the data collection. M.J. contributed to writing, design, and analysis. J.H. provided clinical guidance and feedback on the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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  1. Macquarie University, Balaclava Rd, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia

    Sarah Stanford, Michael P. Jones & Jennifer L. Hudson

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  1. Sarah Stanford
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  2. Michael P. Jones
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  3. Jennifer L. Hudson
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Correspondence to Sarah Stanford.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical Approval

The study was reviewed and approved by the Macquarie University Human Research Ethics Committee, reference number 5201400575.

Informed Consent

The project was approved by the School Principal, Executive and school counsellors in each school. Parents and students provided opt-in informed consent at the first time point; this consent covered the baseline and follow-up survey. At the follow-up, parents were provided the full study information and the opportunity to opt-out on behalf of their teen, and students again provided opt-in informed consent.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 3

Table 3 Factor loadings for positive and negative coping
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, Table 4

Table 4 Factor loadings from principal components analysis with orthogonal (varimax) rotation to distil the psychological variables into a smaller set of independent constructs
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Stanford, S., Jones, M.P. & Hudson, J.L. Appreciating Complexity in Adolescent Self-Harm Risk Factors: Psychological Profiling in a Longitudinal Community Sample. J Youth Adolescence 47, 916–931 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0721-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0721-5

Keywords

  • Self-harm
  • Risk factors
  • Adolescence
  • Psychological profiles