Risk Factors Associated with Suicide Attempts and Other Self-injury Among Hong Kong Adolescents

Abstract

This study examined 1,361 Chinese adolescents who reported self-injurious behaviors. Groups A and B both acknowledged deliberate self-injury, but only Group A had made a suicide attempt. Group C reported accidental self-injury. Deliberate self-injurers (Groups A and B) were more frequently girls, older, and with more suicidal ideation. Group A had more psychopathology, environmental and suicide-related risk factors than group B and C. Group C had higher depressive symptoms than noninjured controls. The study clarifies differences among self-injurious behavior groups based on expressed deliberate self-injury and self-reported suicide attempt. These three groups appear to present a continuum of risk.