Citation

Tulloch AL, Blizzard L, Pinkus Z. J. Adolesc. Health 1997; 21(4): 267-275.

Affiliation

Clinical School, University of Tasmania, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S1054-139X(97)00118-3

PMID

9304459

Abstract

PURPOSE: To examine the association between communication with parents and self-harm in 14-19-year-old adolescents. METHODS: A total of 36 female and 16 male adolescents presenting to the accident and emergency department of a general hospital; 52 hospital-based controls were interviewed and studied using the following scales: Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale, Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale, Adolescent-Family Inventory of Life Events and Changes Scale, Children's Depression Index, and Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale. RESULTS: The absence of a family confidant was very strongly associated with adolescent self-harm. Despite controlling for a wide range of possible causal factors, poorer parent-adolescent communication remained strongly associated with self-harm. The effect of poorer communication on self-harm was strongest in the group with and internal locus of control. CONCLUSIONS: Impairment of communication between adolescents and their parents may be important in the origins of adolescent self-harm.

Language: en