Evidence that implementation intentions reduce self-harm in the community

Objectives

Implementation intentions are ‘IF-THEN’ plans that encourage goal-intended behaviour. This study was designed to test whether an intervention encouraging the formation of implementation intentions can reduce self-harm in the community.

Design

A randomized controlled design was used.

Methods

At pre-intervention, outcome variables (self-harm in both specified and unspecified critical situations and suicidality) and potential moderators of implementation intentions (goal intention, mental imagery, and exposure to self-harm) were measured using self-report questionnaires. The participants (N = 469, aged 18–66 years, 86.4% female, 6.8% male and 6.7% other) were then randomized to either an experimental (implementation intention) or control task. At three-months post-intervention, self-report questionnaires were used again to measure the outcome variables.

Results

There were no overall differences between the conditions at post-intervention. However, goal intention and mental imagery, but not exposure to self-harm, moderated the effects of condition on self-harm in specified critical situations. At high (mean + 1SD) levels of both goal intention and mental imagery, the experimental condition reported self-harming less frequently in the situations specified in their implementation intentions.

Conclusions

Implementation intentions therefore represent a useful intervention for reducing self-harm in specified critical situations for people in the community who wish to avoid self-harm and those who frequently experience self-harm and suicide related mental imagery.     

The development and piloting of an instrument to measure care staff attitudes towards child self-harm

Abstract

Child self-harm has been identified as an important issue within paediatric care, but the attitudes of care staff towards the topic have received limited investigation. The aim of this paper is the justification and development of an instrument to measure care staff attitudes towards child self-harm. By identifying the salient features of the phenomenon and incorporating them into a means of data collection, it is hoped that a more realistic picture of the clinical environment emerges. The main elements of the instrument are introduced in turn and its initial piloting is described. A questionnaire was developed based on a series of hypothetical case vignettes and subjected to a number of tests. The results of the pilot test indicated that the instrument shows high levels of reliability and would therefore prove useful in eliciting staff attitudes.     

A Systematic Literature Review of Experiences of Professional Care and Support Among People Who Self-Harm

Self-harm is an increasing phenomenon among young people, with potentially fatal outcomes. Patient’s perceptions of treatment and support are poorly documented. The aim was to synthesise the experiences of those who self-harm, with special reference to professional care and support by family, friends, and the school system. A systematic review of the literature was conducted. Following retrieval of 1,623 abstracts, 14 studies were included in the final analysis, 11 of which are reported here. Two quantitative studies as well as 1 mixed method study on self-care could not be reported on here due to word limitations. Adult people who self-harm described the importance of quality in the caring relationship and a tailored care designed for each individual. There is a need for more studies into adolescents who self-harm but of importance is the adolescents’ need for support from the adult world. A positive relationship between patient and healthcare professional can be crucial in motivating continued treatment of people who self-harm. A major priority is radical improvement in the attitudes of healthcare personnel.     

Suicidal behaviour in HIV infection: A case-control study of deliberate self-harm in people with HIV infection

A group of 22 individuals with HIV infection who had made acts of self-harm were compared with a sex and age-matched control group of individuals without known HIV infection who had also being involved in acts of deliberate self-harm (DSH). Compared with all DSH individuals referred to the deliberate self-harm service during the same period. men were over-represented amongst HIV subjects. Compared with matched controls, HIV subjects were more likely to include gay/bisexual men, and not be employed. Individuals with HIV infection were more likely to be receiving outpatient psychiatric care at the time of DSH. and to have received it in the past A diagnosis of depression was given mom frequently to HIV subjects, while alcohol misuses was more often diagnosed in controls. Concerns about their physical health were prominent amongst HIV seropositives. Psychiatric follow-up was offered to HIV subjects more often than to controls. The results indicate that HIV disease is a potential contributing factor to deliberate self-harm. and highlight the need for efforts to identify individuals with HIV infection at risk of deliberate self-harm, ant to develop effective interventions to prevent suicidal behaviour in this group of individuals.     

Annual Research Review: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in girls and women: underrepresentation,longitudinal processes,and key directions

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) – and its underlying behavioral dimensions of inattention and hyperactivity–impulsivity – have been understudied in females. We first cover the conceptual issues of prevalence, diagnostic practices, diversity, comorbidity, and causal factors, plus forces limiting awareness of ADHD in females. After a narrative review of cross-sectional and longitudinal findings, we conclude the following. (a) Girls meet diagnostic criteria for ADHD at just under half the rates of boys, a ratio that becomes much closer to equal by adulthood. (b) Girls and women with ADHD show a predominance of inattention and associated internalizing problems; boys and men display greater levels of hyperactive–impulsive symptoms and associated externalizing problems. (c) Sex differences in ADHD symptoms and related outcomes depend heavily on the clinical versus nonreferred nature of the samples under investigation. (d) Females with ADHD experience, on average, serious impairments, with a particularly heightened risk for problems in close relationships and engagement in self-harm. (e) Clinicians may overlook symptoms and impairments in females because of less overt (but still impairing) symptom manifestations in girls and women and their frequent adoption of compensatory strategies. Our review of predictors and mediators of adult outcomes highlights (a) the potential for heterotypically continuous pathways in females with childhood ADHD and (b) developmental progressions to self-harm, intimate partner violence, unplanned pregnancy, and comorbid psychopathology. Focusing on ADHD in females is necessary to characterize causal and maintaining mechanisms with accuracy and to foster responsive interventions, as highlighted in our closing list of clinical implications and research priorities.     

中学生视屏时间、心理亚健康与自伤行为

目的:调查我国中学生视屏时间及自伤行为现状,探讨在不同心理亚健康状态下视屏时间与自伤行为的关联.方法:选取沈阳、新乡、广州和重庆4个城市的中学生13817名,使用自伤行为及久坐行为调查问卷调查自伤行为和视屏时间,用青少年亚健康多维评定问卷评价心理亚健康状态.结果:学习日和周末视屏时间＞2 h/d者分别为2085人(15.1％)、8077人(58.5％),心理亚健康状态者2997人(21.7％),有自伤行为者3899人(28.2％).调整地区、性别、年级、吸烟、饮酒和年龄等混杂因素后,多因素logistic回归分析显示学习日视屏时间＞2 h/d在非心理亚健康状态的学生中与自伤行为无统计学关联,而在心理亚健康状态的学生中,学习日视屏时间＞2 h/d是自伤行为的危险因素(OR=1.27);无论中学生是否存在心理亚健康状态,周末视屏时间＞2 h/d均是自伤行的危险因素(OR=1.37、1.39).结论:较长视屏时间在中学生中普遍存在,且视屏时间较长、心理亚健康状态可能和自伤行为存在相关.     

Self-Harm and Aggression in Dangerous and Severely Personality Disordered Patients of a High-Security Hospital

This study examined the frequency, prevalence and co-occurrence of aggression and self-harm in patients admitted for assessment and treatment to a high-security dangerous severe personality disorder (DSPD) hospital. Results showed that most patients admitted to this unit were aggressive and many patients self-harmed during the period of study. Few patients were neither aggressive nor self-harming. Patients who self-harmed and behaved aggressively were typically aggressive before their first episode of self-harm, and the likelihood of self-harm seemed to increase during the later stages of their hospital stay. Possible explanations for these findings are offered.