Research with adolescents who engage in non-suicidal self-injury: ethical considerations and challenges

Abstract

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) has emerged as a significant psychiatric issue among youth. In addition to its high prevalence rates, NSSI is associated with a number of psychiatric issues and confers risk for varying degrees of physical injury. It is also a risk factor for attempted suicide. Thus, youth who engage in NSSI represent a vulnerable and high-risk population and researchers are likely to encounter a variety of ethical challenges when conducting NSSI research. Accordingly, it is critical that researchers be familiar with the major ethical issues involved in NSSI research and how to effectively account for and address them. This is important both prior to obtaining clearance from their Institutional Review Boards and when carrying out their research. To date, there is no consolidated resource to delineate the ethical challenges inherent to NSSI research and how these can be effectively navigated throughout the research process. The goals of this paper are to review international best practices in NSSI research across the various contexts within which it is studied, to offer guidelines for managing these issues, to identify areas in which variation in approaches prohibits decisive recommendations, and to generate questions in need of further consideration among scholars in this field.

Addressing Self‐Injury on College Campuses: Institutional Recommendations

“…Specifically, this includes having a basic understanding of NSSI, knowing how to broach the topic, being able to respond effectively when talking about NSSI with students, providing appropriate referral options, and engaging in self‐care, as well as being aware of recommended resources (see Appendix). The resources listed in the Appendix were selected on the basis of past research examining the quality of online NSSI material (Lewis et al, ) as well as literature highlighting and recommending several of these resources as a means to augment NSSI literacy and foster more effective responding to those who self‐injure (Hasking et al, ; Lewis, Heath, Michal, & Duggan, ; Lloyd‐Richardson, Lewis, Whitlock, Rodham, & Schatten, ). Dissemination of effective response guidelines should occur through materials provided at orientation, mental health service websites, and all relevant mental health or student wellness activities and events.…”

What do young adolescents think about taking part in longitudinal self-harm research? Findings from a school-based study

“…Recent research has recommended taking steps to reduce any potential negative impact of study involvement on youth [ 21 ]. Mood elevation techniques have been employed following lab-based self-harm research [ 28 , 29 ] and studies using other methods [ 7 , 30 ] and are also recommended in online settings [ 24 , 31 ]. An additional aim of the present study was to evaluate the use of a simple mood elevation tool that can easily be incorporated into a paper-based survey.…”

Development and psychometric properties of the “Suicidality: Treatment Occurring in Paediatrics (STOP) Risk and Resilience Factors Scales” in adolescents

“…Using this approach, the psychometric analyses revealed that the STOP-SReFS and the STOP-SRiFS were reliable and valid instruments for assessing suicidality risk and resilience factors in adolescents. The fact that the STOP-SRiFS and the STOP-SReFS are more age-specific scales, which have been designed and worded specifically for the adolescent population, and that they can be completed online, decreasing completion time and ensuring accessibility at all times, increases their potential applicability in an adolescent population [29]. As suicidal behaviour depends on diverse clinical, psychological, sociological, and biological factors, the consensus is that a multi-informant evaluation is strongly recommended [21].…”