@article{ref1, title="Stock market fluctuations and self-harm among children and adolescents in Hong Kong", journal="International journal of environmental research and public health", year="2017", author="Wong, Wilfred Hing-Sang and Lee, James Chun-Yin and Ho, Frederick Ka-Wing and Li, Tim Man-Ho and Ip, Patrick and Chow, Chun-Bong", volume="14", number="6", pages="e14060623-e14060623", abstract="Although a few studies investigated the impact of stock market fluctuations on population health, the question of whether stock market fluctuations have an impact on self-harm in children and adolescents remain unanswered. This study therefore investigated the association between stock market fluctuations and self-harm among children and adolescents in Hong Kong. Daily self-harm attendance records were retrieved from all 18 local Accident and Emergency Departments (AED) from 2001 to 2012. 4931 children and adolescents who committed self-harm were included. The results indicated positive correlation between daily change in stock market index, Hang Seng Index (∇HSI, per 300 points), and daily self-harm incident risk of children and adolescents, without time lag between the two. The incident risk ratio for ∇HSI was 1.09 (p = 0.0339) in children and 1.06 (p = 0.0246) in adolescents. Importantly, non-trading days were found to impose significant protective effect in both groups against self-harm risk. Our results showed that stock market fluctuations were related to self-harm behaviors in children and adolescents. Parents and professionals should be educated about the potential harm of stock market fluctuations and the importance of effective parenting in reducing self-harm among children and adolescents.

Language: en

", language="en", issn="1661-7827", doi="10.3390/ijerph14060623", url="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14060623" }