What do young people who self-harm find helpful? A comparative study of young people with and without experience of being looked after in care.

Abstract

Self-harm amongst young people is an increasing problem, with looked-after young people at higher risk. Despite this, little research exists on what young people who self-harm find helpful. One hundred and twenty-six 11-21year olds (53 who had experience of the care system and 73 who did not) were recruited from the community and NHS. All participants had self-harmed in the past 6months. Participants completed an Audio Computer-Assisted Self-interview (ACASI) regarding their views about the support they had received, how helpful it was, and what further help they felt they needed. Looked-after young people reported the three most helpful sources of support were Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), friends and pets and the least helpful were CAMHS, Accident and Emergency (A&E) and Social services. For non-looked-after young people, CAMHS, counselling and Harmless (user-led support service for self-harm) were most helpful and CAMHS, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and general practitioner (GP) were the least. Compared with the other group, more looked-after young people had received help from A&E and CAMHS, whereas more non-looked-after young people had accessed GPs, parents, psychological therapies, self-help books and websites. More looked-after young people found support groups helpful, and more non-looked-after young people reported that distraction techniques, medication and their siblings were helpful. Young people who self-harm have mixed views about CAMHS. Differences in the pattern of access and preferences for support between looked-after and non-looked-after young people should be reflected in service availability and commissioning. Little is known about what young people who self-harm find helpful, particularly for looked-after young people. CAMHS was named amongst the most helpful and the least helpful services by both looked-after and non-looked-after young people. Social services and A&E were frequently cited amongst the least helpful sources of support. Young people report finding informal support helpful, including family and friends. There appears to be a need for explorations of the reasons behind the apparent negative perception of statutory services in young people, and what is required to shift that.