Effects of Secondary Preventive Interventions Against Self‐Harm [Internet]

Excerpt

There may be as many as 1 in 10 young people in Norway who have self-harmed, and many of them attempt suicide, but the exact occurrence is uncertain. When people contact health services after self-harm or suicide attempts, it is important to have effective interventions for preventing it from happening again. We have found research on many interventions and studied whether people harm themselves less frequently and have fewer suicide attempts when they have received one of these interventions compared to people in a control group who have not received the intervention. We have also looked at whether the interventions can reduce psychiatric symptoms.

We found:

1. active contact and follow-up in emergency wards probably reduces new sucicide attempts

2. problem solving therapy possibly reduces repeat self-harm and psychiatric symptoms

3. psychodynamic interpersonal therapy possibly reduces psychiatric symptoms

4. intensive follow-up and outreach possibly reduces repeat self-harm, sucicide attempts and suicides

5. the effect of other secondary prevention interventions like e.g. cognitive therapy, cognitive behaviour therapy, telephone contact, and the school-based programs C-CARE (Counselors Care: Assess, Respond, Empower) and CAST (Coping and Support Training) are uncertain because the evidence is of very low quality

The results must be interpreted with caution as there are wide confidence intervals around the estimates.

Keywords: Self‐injurious behavior; Suicide; Parasuicide; Self‐mutilation; Child; Adult; Youth.