Hostname: page-component-6b989bf9dc-94dtm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-14T11:17:43.257Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Correlates and Short-Term Course of Self-Poisoning in Adolescents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Michael Kerfoot ,
Elizabeth Dyer ,
Val Harrington ,
Adrine Woodham  and
Richard Harrington
Michael Kerfoot*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Manchester
Elizabeth Dyer
Affiliation:
Department of Child Psychiatry, St Mary's Hospital, Manchester
Val Harrington
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Manchester
Adrine Woodham
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Manchester
Richard Harrington
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Manchester
*
Professor Richard Harrington, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Pendlebury, Manchester M27 4HA. Fax: 0161 728 2294
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

The features of adolescents who had taken an overdose were assessed to determine the focus for a treatment trial.

Method

Overdose cases were compared with psychiatric and community controls who had not taken an overdose in respect of mental disorders and family background.

Results

Overdose cases had high rates of major depression, but most of them recovered from depression within six weeks of the overdose. There was a specific association between taking an overdose and family dysfunction.

Conclusions

Family dysfunction could be a useful focus in a clinical trial of the aftercare of adolescents who have taken an overdose.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 168 , Issue 1 , January 1996 , pp. 38 - 42
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Pychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised) (DSM–III–R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Andrews, J. A. & Lewinsohn, P. M. (1992) Suicidal attempts among older adolescents: prevalence and co-occurrence with psychiatric disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 31, 655–662.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., Kovacs, M., et al (1985) Hopelessness and eventual suicide: a 10 year prospective study of patients hospitalized with suicidal ideation. American Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 559–563.Google Scholar
Coyne, J. C. (1994) Self-reported distress: Analog or ersatz depression? Psychological Bulletin, 116, 29–45.Google Scholar
De Wilde, E. J., Kienhorst, I. C. W. M., Diekstra, R. F. W., et al (1993) The specificity of psychological characteristics of adolescent suicide attempters. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32, 51–59.Google Scholar
Hawton, K. & Fagg, J. (1992) Deliberate self-poisoning and self-injury in adolescents. A study of characteristics and trends in Oxford, 1976–89. British Journal of Psychiatry, 161, 816–823.Google Scholar
Kerfoot, M. (1988) Deliberate self-poisoning in childhood and early adolescence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 29, 335–345.Google Scholar
Miller, I. V., Epstein, N. B., Bishop, D. S., et al (1985) The McMaster Family Assessment Device: Reliability and validity. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 11, 345–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pfeffer, C. R., Klerman, G. L., Hurt, S. W., et al (1993) Suicidal children grow up: rates and psychosocial risk factors for suicide attempts during follow-up. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 32, 106–113.Google Scholar
Puig-Antich, J. & Chambers, W. (1978) The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Aged Children. New York State Psychiatric Institute: Unpublished interview schedule.Google Scholar
Reynolds, W. M. (1988) Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire. Professional Manual. Odessa, Fla: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.Google Scholar
Sadowski, C. & Kelley, M. L. (1991) Social problem solving in suicidal adolescents. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61, 121–127.Google Scholar
Spirito, A., Williams, C. A., Stark, L. J., et al (1988) The Hopelessness Scale for Children: psychometric properties with normal and emotionally disturbed adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 14, 445–458.Google Scholar
Spirito, A., Brown, L., Overholser, J., et al (1989) Attempted suicide in adolescence: a review and critique of the literature. Clinical Psychology Review, 9, 335–363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swadi, H. (1990) Validating and improving the validity of self-reports in adolescent substance misuse surveys. The Journal of Drug Issues, 20, 473–486.Google Scholar
Taylor, E. A. & Stansfeld, S. A. (1984) Children who poison themselves: I. Clinical comparison with psychiatric controls. British Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 127–132.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.