Self-harm strategy development: qualitative evidence

Supporting development of a self-harm strategy for Scotland, what does the qualitative evidence tell us?


References

Aktar, S., 2022. The Experience of Self-Harming Behaviours That Inflict External Injuries to the Body in UK-Based Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani Females: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (pro_doc). University of East London. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.8q7v8

Anderson, S., Clarke, V., 2019. Disgust, shame and the psychosocial impact of skin picking: Evidence from an online support forum. J Health Psychol 24, 1773–1784. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105317700254

Bailey, D., Kemp, L., Wright, N., Mutale, G., 2019. Talk About Self-Harm (TASH): participatory action research with young people, GPs and practice nurses to explore how the experiences of young people who self-harm could be improved in GP surgeries. Family Practice 36, 621–626. https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cmz006

Baker, A., Wright, K., Hansen, E., 2013. A qualitative study exploring female patients’ experiences of self-harm in a medium secure unit: Women who self-harm in an MSU. J Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs 20, 821–829. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.12031

Ballantyne, L., 2020. Exploring well-being, self-harm and suicidality among transgender people (DClinPsy). University of Glasgow.

Bermeo Coronel, M., 2021. Young Adults’ Previous Experience of Self-Harm in the Context of School Bullying: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (pro_doc). University of East London. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.89935

Biddle, L., Derges, J., Goldsmith, C., Donovan, J.L., Gunnell, D., 2018. Using the internet for suicide-related purposes: Contrasting findings from young people in the community and self-harm patients admitted to hospital. PLoS One 13, e0197712. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0197712

Boyce, M., 2021. “It doesn’t stop when you get to 18”: experiences of self-harm in adults. MHRJ 26, 366–379. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHRJ-12-2020-0087

Boyce, M., Munn-Giddings, C., Secker, J., 2018. “‘It is a safe space’: self-harm self-help groups.” MHRJ 23, 54–63. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHRJ-06-2017-0021

Brown, A.C., Latham, C., Danquah, A.N., Dunlop, B.J., Taylor, P.J., 2022. “Cover up your arms, you’re triggering people”: A Mixed‐Methods Investigation of Shame in those who Self‐Injure. Psychol Psychother 95, 701–716. https://doi.org/10.1111/papt.12394

Camm-Crosbie, L., Bradley, L., Shaw, R., Baron-Cohen, S., Cassidy, S., 2019. ‘People like me don’t get support’: Autistic adults’ experiences of support and treatment for mental health difficulties, self-injury and suicidality. Autism 23, 1431–1441. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361318816053

Chamberlen, A., 2016. Embodying prison pain: Women’s experiences of self-injury in prison and the emotions of punishment. Theoretical Criminology 20, 205–219. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362480615595283

Chandler, A., 2019. Boys don’t cry? Critical phenomenology, self-harm and suicide. The Sociological Review 67, 1350–1366. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038026119854863

Chandler, A., 2014. Narrating the self-injured body. Med Humanities 40, 111–116. https://doi.org/10.1136/medhum-2013-010488

Chandler, A., 2013. Inviting pain? Pain, dualism, and embodiment in narratives of self-injury: Pain, dualism and embodiment in narratives of self-injury. Sociology of Health & Illness 35, 716–730. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9566.2012.01523.x

Chandler, A., Simopoulou, Z., 2021. The Violence of the Cut: Gendering Self-Harm. IJERPH 18, 4650. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094650

Cully, G., Leahy, D., Shiely, F., Arensman, E., 2022. Patients’ Experiences of Engagement with Healthcare Services Following a High-Risk Self-Harm Presentation to a Hospital Emergency Department: A Mixed Methods Study. Archives of Suicide Research 26, 91–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2020.1779153

Dargan, P., Reid, G., Hodge, S., 2016. Exploring the Role of Mental Imagery in the Experience of Self-injury: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Behav. Cogn. Psychother. 44, 92–103. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1352465814000666

Donskoy, A.-L., Stevens, R., 2013. Starting from scratch: an exploration of the narratives of the first episode of self-wounding. Ethnicity and Inequalities in Health and Social Care 6, 62–76. https://doi.org/10.1108/EIHSC-10-2013-0021

Edmondson, A.J., Brennan, C., House, A.O., 2018. Using photo-elicitation to understand reasons for repeated self-harm: a qualitative study. BMC Psychiatry 18, 98. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-018-1681-3

France, E.F., Cunningham, M., Ring, N., Uny, I., Duncan, E.A.S., Jepson, R.G., Maxwell, M., Roberts, R.J., Turley, R.L., Booth, A., Britten, N., Flemming, K., Gallagher, I., Garside, R., Hannes, K., Lewin, S., Noblit, G.W., Pope, C., Thomas, J., Vanstone, M., Higginbottom, G.M.A., Noyes, J., 2019. Improving reporting of meta-ethnography: the eMERGe reporting guidance. BMC Medical Research Methodology 19, 25. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-018-0600-0

Givissi, K., 2016. Splits and integrations: A phenomenological exploration of self-harm marks and scars (doctoral). City University London.

Griffiths, L., Bailey, D., Slade, K., 2019. Professional and peer support preferences for women who self-harm in custody. JCP 9, 109–121. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCP-12-2018-0049

Guest, R., Copello, A., Michail, M., 2021. A qualitative exploration of young people’s experiences of attempted suicide in the context of alcohol and substance use. PLoS One 16, e0256915. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256915

Harris, D., 2019. A Qualitative Study of The Experiences of People who Use A&E Services following Deliberate Self Harm or Attempted Suicide and Receive No Further Support (Doctoral). Doctoral thesis, UCL (University College London). Presented at the UCL, UCL (University College London).

Higgins, E.J., 2020. Experiences of Adults who Disclose Self-harm to Non-professionals (dclinpsychol). University of Leeds.

Hunter, C., Chantler, K., Kapur, N., Cooper, J., 2013. Service user perspectives on psychosocial assessment following self-harm and its impact on further help-seeking: A qualitative study. Journal of Affective Disorders 145, 315–323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2012.08.009

Inckle, K., 2014. Strong and Silent: Men, Masculinity, and Self-injury. Men and Masculinities 17, 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X13516960

Jacob, N., Evans, R., Scourfield, J., 2017. The influence of online images on self‐harm: A qualitative study of young people aged 16–24. Journal of Adolescence 60, 140–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2017.08.001

John, A., Marchant, A., Hawton, K., Gunnell, D., Cleobury, L., Thomson, S., Spencer, S., Dennis, M., Lloyd, K., Scourfield, J., 2022. Understanding suicide clusters through exploring self-harm: Semi-structured interviews with individuals presenting with near-fatal self-harm during a suicide cluster. Social Science & Medicine 292, 114566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114566

Johnson, D.R., Ferguson, K., Copley, J., 2017. Residential staff responses to adolescent self-harm: The helpful and unhelpful. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry 22, 443–454. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104516689378

Jones, C.C.G., Jomeen, J., Hayter, M., 2014. The impact of peer support in the context of perinatal mental illness: A meta-ethnography. Midwifery 30, 491–498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2013.08.003

Klineberg, E., Kelly, M.J., Stansfeld, S.A., Bhui, K.S., 2013. How do adolescents talk about self-harm: a qualitative study of disclosure in an ethnically diverse urban population in England. BMC Public Health 13, 572. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-572

Lavis, A., Winter, R., 2020. #Online harms or benefits? An ethnographic analysis of the positives and negatives of peer-support around self-harm on social media. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 61, 842–854. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13245

Ljungberg, A., Denhov, A., Topor, A., 2015. The Art of Helpful Relationships with Professionals: A Meta-ethnography of the Perspective of Persons with Severe Mental Illness. Psychiatr Q 86, 471–495. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-015-9347-5

Lockwood, J., Townsend, E., Allen, H., Daley, D., Sayal, K., 2020. What young people say about impulsivity in the short-term build up to self-harm: A qualitative study using card-sort tasks. PLoS One 15, e0244319. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244319

Long, M., 2018. ‘We’re not monsters … we’re just really sad sometimes:’ hidden self-injury, stigma and help-seeking. Health Sociology Review 27, 89–103. https://doi.org/10.1080/14461242.2017.1375862

Long, M., Manktelow, R., Tracey, A., 2016. “Knowing that I’m not alone”: client perspectives on counselling for self-injury. Journal of Mental Health 25, 41–46. https://doi.org/10.3109/09638237.2015.1101426

Mackenzie, J.C., Cartwright, T., Borrill, J., 2018. Exploring suicidal behaviours by probation clients—a qualitative near-lethal study. Journal of Public Health 40, 146–153. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdx005

Marzano, L., Ciclitira, K., Adler, J., 2012. The impact of prison staff responses on self-harming behaviours: Prisoners’ perspectives: Prison staff responses to self-harm: Prisoners’ perspectives. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 51, 4–18. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8260.2010.02007.x

Marzano, L., Ciclitira, K., Adler, J.R., 2016. Non-suicidal self-harm amongst incarcerated men: a qualitative study. JCP 6, 157–172. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCP-04-2016-0017

Marzetti, H., McDaid, L., O’Connor, R., 2022. “Am I really alive?”: Understanding the role of homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in young LGBT+ people’s suicidal distress. Social Science & Medicine 298, 114860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114860

Mason, D., James, D., Andrew, L., Fox, J.R.E., 2022. ‘The last thing you feel is the self‐disgust’. The role of self‐directed disgust in men who have attempted suicide: A grounded theory study. Psychol Psychother 95, 575–599. https://doi.org/10.1111/papt.12389

McAndrew, S., Warne, T., 2014. Hearing the voices of young people who self‐harm: Implications for service providers. Int J Ment Health Nurs 23, 570–579. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12093

McDermott, E., Roen, K., Piela, A., 2015. Explaining Self-Harm: Youth Cybertalk and Marginalized Sexualities and Genders. Youth & Society 47, 873–889. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X13489142

Miller, M., Redley, M., Wilkinson, P.O., 2021. A Qualitative Study of Understanding Reasons for Self-Harm in Adolescent Girls. IJERPH 18, 3361. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18073361

Morris, C., Simpson, J., Sampson, M., Beesley, F., 2015. Emotion and Self-Cutting: Narratives of Service Users Referred to a Personality Disorder Service: Emotion and Self-cutting. Clin. Psychol. Psychother. 22, 125–132. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.1870

Mughal, F., Dikomitis, L., Babatunde, O.O., Chew-Graham, C.A., 2021. Experiences of general practice care for self-harm: a qualitative study of young people’s perspectives. Br J Gen Pract 71, e744–e752. https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0091

O’Brien, K.H.M., Nicolopoulos, A., Almeida, J., Aguinaldo, L.D., Rosen, R.K., 2021. Why Adolescents Attempt Suicide: A Qualitative Study of the Transition from Ideation to Action. Archives of Suicide Research 25, 269–286. https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2019.1675561

Owens, C., Fox, F., Redwood, S., Davies, R., Foote, L., Salisbury, N., Williams, S., Biddle, L., Thomas, K., 2020. Measuring outcomes in trials of interventions for people who self-harm: qualitative study of service users’ views. BJPsych open 6, e22. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2019.93

Owens, C., Hansford, L., Sharkey, S., Ford, T., 2016. Needs and fears of young people presenting at accident and emergency department following an act of self-harm: secondary analysis of qualitative data. Br J Psychiatry 208, 286–291. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.113.141242

Polling, C., Woodhead, C., Harwood, H., Hotopf, M., Hatch, S.L., 2021. “There Is So Much More for Us to Lose If We Were to Kill Ourselves”: Understanding Paradoxically Low Rates of Self-Harm in a Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Community in London. Qual Health Res 31, 122–136. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732320957628

Quinlivan, L., Gorman, L., Littlewood, D.L., Monaghan, E., Barlow, S.J., Campbell, S., Webb, R.T., Kapur, N., 2022. ‘Wasn’t offered one, too poorly to ask for one’ – Reasons why some patients do not receive a psychosocial assessment following self-harm: Qualitative patient and carer survey. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 56, 398–407. https://doi.org/10.1177/00048674211011262

Quinlivan, L.M., Gorman, L., Littlewood, D.L., Monaghan, E., Barlow, S.J., Campbell, S.M., Webb, R.T., Kapur, N., 2021. ‘Relieved to be seen’—patient and carer experiences of psychosocial assessment in the emergency department following self-harm: qualitative analysis of 102 free-text survey responses. BMJ Open 11, e044434. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044434

Rayner, G., Warne, T., 2016. Interpersonal processes and self-injury: a qualitative study using Bricolage. J. Psychiatr. Ment. Health Nurs. 23, 54–65. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.12277

Rees, N., Rapport, F., Snooks, H., 2015. Perceptions of paramedics and emergency staff about the care they provide to people who self-harm: Constructivist metasynthesis of the qualitative literature. J Psychosom Res 78, 529–535. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2015.03.007

Richardson, C., Dickson, A., Robb, K.A., O’Connor, R.C., 2021. The Male Experience of Suicide Attempts and Recovery: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. IJERPH 18, 5209. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18105209

Ring, N., Jepson, R., Ritchie, K., 2011. Methods of synthesizing qualitative research studies for health technology assessment. Int J Technol Assess Health Care 27, 384–390. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266462311000389

Rouski, C., Knowles, S.F., Sellwood, W., Hodge, S., 2021. The quest for genuine care: A qualitative study of the experiences of young people who self-harm in residential care. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry 26, 418–429. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104520980037

Sambath, A., 2016. “The inner scar.” Women’s experience of self-harm (doctoral). City, University of London.

Sass, C., Farley, K., Brennan, C., 2022. “They have more than enough to do than patch up people like me.” Experiences of seeking support for self‐harm in lockdown during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Psychiatric Ment Health Nurs 29, 544–554. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.12834

Sattar, R., Lawton, R., Panagioti, M., Johnson, J., 2021. Meta-ethnography in healthcare research: a guide to using a meta-ethnographic approach for literature synthesis. BMC Health Services Research 21, 50. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-06049-w

Steggals, P., Lawler, S., Graham, R., 2020. The social life of self‐injury: exploring the communicative dimension of a very personal practice. Sociol Health Illn 42, 157–170. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.12994

Sutherland, O., Dawczyk, A., De Leon, K., Cripps, J., Lewis, S.P., 2014. Self-compassion in online accounts of nonsuicidal self-injury: An interpretive phenomenological analysis. Counselling Psychology Quarterly 27, 409–433. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2014.948809

Toye, F., Seers, K., Allcock, N., Briggs, M., Carr, E., Andrews, J., Barker, K., 2013. ‘Trying to pin down jelly’ - exploring intuitive processes in quality assessment for meta-ethnography. BMC Medical Research Methodology 13, 46. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-13-46

Toye, F., Seers, K., Hannink, E., Barker, K., 2017. A mega-ethnography of eleven qualitative evidence syntheses exploring the experience of living with chronic non-malignant pain. BMC Medical Research Methodology 17, 116. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-017-0392-7

Troya, M Isabela, Chew-Graham, C.A., Babatunde, O., Bartlam, B., Mughal, F., Dikomitis, L., 2019. Role of primary care in supporting older adults who self-harm: a qualitative study in England. Br J Gen Pract 69, e740–e751. https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp19X706049

Troya, M. Isabela, Dikomitis, L., Babatunde, O.O., Bartlam, B., Chew-Graham, C.A., 2019. Understanding self-harm in older adults: A qualitative study. EClinicalMedicine 12, 52–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2019.06.002

Turrell, S., 2019. What do adolescent natal males choose to tell us about self-harm: a thematic analysis of self-harm vlogs (other). University of Essex and Tavistock & Portman NHS Trust.

Wadman, R., Armstrong, M., Clarke, D., Harroe, C., Majumder, P., Sayal, K., Vostanis, P., Townsend, E., 2018. Experience of Self-Harm and Its Treatment in Looked-After Young People: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Archives of Suicide Research 22, 365–379. https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2017.1355286

Wadman, R., Clarke, D., Sayal, K., Vostanis, P., Armstrong, M., Harroe, C., Majumder, P., Townsend, E., 2017. An interpretative phenomenological analysis of the experience of self-harm repetition and recovery in young adults. J Health Psychol 22, 1631–1641. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105316631405

Wadman, R., Nielsen, E., O’Raw, L., Brown, K., Williams, A.J., Sayal, K., Townsend, E., 2020. “These Things Don’t Work.” Young People’s Views on Harm Minimization Strategies as a Proxy for Self-Harm: A Mixed Methods Approach. Archives of Suicide Research 24, 384–401. https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2019.1624669

Wadman, Ruth, Vostanis, P., Sayal, K., Majumder, P., Harroe, C., Clarke, D., Armstrong, M., Townsend, E., 2018. An interpretative phenomenological analysis of young people’s self-harm in the context of interpersonal stressors and supports: Parents, peers, and clinical services. Social Science & Medicine 212, 120–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.07.021

Walker, T., Shaw, J., Gibb, J., Turpin, C., Reid, C., Gutridge, K., Abel, K., 2021. Lessons Learnt From the Narratives of Women Who Self-Harm in Prison. Crisis 42, 255–262. https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000714

Whalen, A.C., 2016. Experiences of impulsivity, self-harm and DBT groups: a qualitative enquiry in a secure setting (dclinpsychol). University of Leeds.

Williams, A.J., Arcelus, J., Townsend, E., Michail, M., 2021. Understanding the processes underlying self-harm ideation and behaviors within LGBTQ+ young people: A qualitative study. Archives of Suicide Research 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2021.2003273

Woodley, S., Hodge, S., Jones, K., Holding, A., 2021. How Individuals Who Self-Harm Manage Their Own Risk— ‘I Cope Because I Self-Harm, and I Can Cope with my Self-Harm.’ Psychol Rep 124, 1998–2017. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294120945178

Contact

Email: socialresearch@gov.scot

Back to top