Parents’ Experience and Psychoeducation Needs When Supporting a Young Person Who Self-Harms

Abstract

Background: Self-harm in young people can have a substantial negative impact on the well-being and functioning of parents and other carers. The “Coping with Self-Harm” booklet was originally developed in the UK as a resource for parents and carers of young people who self-harm, and an adaptation study of this resource was conducted in Australia. This paper presents qualitative analysis of interviews with parents about their experiences and psychoeducational needs when supporting a young person who engages in self harm. Methods: The qualitative study drew on semi-structured individual and group interviews with parents (n = 19 participants) of young people who self-harm. Data were analysed using Thematic Analysis. Results: The analysis identified six themes: (1) the discovery of self-harm, (2) challenges in the parent-young person relationship, (3) parents’ need to understand self-harm, (4) parents’ emotional reactions to self-harm, (5) the importance of self-care and help-seeking among parents, and (6) the need for psychoeducational resources. Conclusion: The study highlights the need for support for parents and carers of young people who engage in self-harm, including development and adaptation of resources, such as the “Coping with Self-Harm” booklet, of which an Australian version has now been developed.

Parental Response Style to Adolescent Self-Harm: Psychological, Social and Functional Impacts

“…Parents experienced ongoing distress and fear, coupled with hypervigilance, anticipatory dread, and a decrease in their own mental health. These results reflect findings from previous research [19,21,[23][24][25]34], reiterating the feelings of distress and fear in parents whose adolescent self-harms and continuing to highlight the unmet needs of this group of parents. The qualitative analysis also contributed to a further understanding of the impact of adolescent self-harm on the wider family and social engagement.…”

“…Secondly, Morgan et al [33] and Ferrey et al [23] reported that parents of adolescents who self-harm frequently endorsed low levels of social support. One recent study has also investigated the experiences and needs of parents and carers of young people who self-harm [34]. It was found that parents express the need for greater support to help them support their child, as well as access to resources that increase their knowledge and understanding of self-harm.…”

“It Changes Your Orbit”: The Impact of Suicide and Traumatic Death on Adolescents as Experienced by Adolescents and Parents

“…Offering multiple methods may also allow more potential participants to take part in qualitative research as their decision to participate is influenced by their perception of being able to contribute to the study via the given methods [ 33 ]. Based on the literature [ 34 , 35 , 36 ], and our experience in qualitative research [ 10 , 26 , 37 ], we estimated the sample size of adolescents and parents required to answer the research question to be between 15 and 20 participants each.…”

Effectiveness of Psychosocial Interventions for Family Members and Other Informal Support Persons of Individuals Who Have Made a Suicide Attempt

“…As the needs of individual carers will differ, such diversity seems to be the most appropriate approach. Carers should also be supported in their ability for self-care and help-seeking, including challenging a belief that taking care of their own needs is selfish (Krysinska et al, 2020).…”