Fed: Teenage girls more likely to deliberately harm themselves

AAP General News (Australia)
08-01-2004
Fed: Teenage girls more likely to deliberately harm themselves

By Kylie Walker, National Medical Correspondent

SYDNEY, Aug 1 AAP - Teenaged girls are more likely than boys to deliberately cut themselves
or overdose on medication or illicit drugs, suicide prevention researchers have found.

Cutting and drug overdoses were the most common ways in which teens hurt themselves,
followed by self-battery, hanging and inhaling toxic substances, Australian Institute
for Suicide Research and Prevention director Professor Diego De Leo said.

"Among those who described deliberate self harm episodes, ... females were more likely
than males to have self-harmed in the previous year," Prof De Leo said.

After interviewing thousands of year 10 and 11 students at co-educational Queensland
high schools, Prof De Leo and colleagues found more than 11 per cent of girls interviewed
had hurt themselves deliberately in the preceding 12 months.

That compared with only 1.6 per cent of teenaged boys surveyed, he revealed in today's
Medical Journal of Australia.

"Factors associated with increased deliberate self harm in the previous year in females
were exposure to self-harm in friends or family members, sexual orientation worries, smoking,
low self-esteem and other distressing events," Prof De Leo said.

Other reasons were boyfriend or girlfriend problems, amphetamine use, past physical
or sexual abuse, being bullied at school and a tendency for the teen to blame his or herself
for getting into distressing situations.

"Living with one parent was associated with lower rates of deliberate self harm for
females," Prof De Leo added.

Most teenagers who deliberately harmed themselves did not seek any help, and those
who did went to friends and family rather than doctors or help lines.

"Perhaps a comprehensive evaluation of medical, mental health and phone counselling
services' accessibility and efficiency should be performed," Prof De Leo said.

"Primary prevention of suicidal behaviours among adolescents should include educating
young people in the use of professional services to deal with their problems."

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KEYWORD: HARM

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