Page 11 - Intuition, Imagination and Innovation in Suicidology Conference, 11th Triple i, Virtual Conference
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f-Harm in Children and Adolescents: 11th Triple i | Virtual Conference | 16th–19th June 2020
An Update on Key Issues
Keith Hawton
Prof. Keith Hawton is a Director of the Centre for Suicide Research at the Univer-
sity of Oxford. For more than 40 years he and his research group have been con-
ducting investigations concerning the causes, treatment, prevention and outco-
me of suicidal behaviour. Prof. Hawton has received research awards from all
the major international suicide prevention organisations. His interests include
epidemiology and clinical management of self-harm, suicide and self-harm in
adolescents, media influences on self-harm and evaluation of suicide preventi-
on initiatives. Key factors that motivate him to continue working in the field of
suicidology are the emergence of new challenges and phenomena, such as the
role of the internet in suicidal behaviour, new types of suicidal behaviour; the
satisfaction of making contributions to prevention of suicide; rewarding colla-
borations with a wide range of people, both nationally and internationally; and
the fact that the field attracts many people who share the same values.
Abstract. Evidence from several countries highlights increasing rates of bo-
th self-harm and suicide in young people. In England for example, rates of
self-harm have recently increased very substantially in female adolescents,
especially those aged under 17 years of age. Also rates of suicide have increa-
sed in under-20 year-olds of both genders over the past decade. As in adults,
self-harm is an important risk factor for future suicide. There is a pressing ne-
ed therefore to identify contributory factors that may assist in the design of
prevention and treatment initiatives to try to reduce this phenomenon and
to help ameliorate its consequences for young people. This has become all
the more pressing with the many difficulties presented by the Covid-19 pan-
demic. In this presentation the epidemiology of self-harm and suicide will be
discussed in the context of the iceberg model. Some key factors that con-
tribute to self-harm will then be considered. These include evidence about
the important role of puberty in the onset of self-harm, and the contribution
of psychiatric disorders, mood instability and sleep disorders. Self-harm and
suicide in children and adolescents often appears to spread between indivi-
duals, with clusters of the behaviour being far more common than in adults.
While media influences on self-harm and suicide continue to be important in
young people, the internet and social networking are making an increasing
https://doi.org/10.26493/978-961-7055-67-2.11 11
An Update on Key Issues
Keith Hawton
Prof. Keith Hawton is a Director of the Centre for Suicide Research at the Univer-
sity of Oxford. For more than 40 years he and his research group have been con-
ducting investigations concerning the causes, treatment, prevention and outco-
me of suicidal behaviour. Prof. Hawton has received research awards from all
the major international suicide prevention organisations. His interests include
epidemiology and clinical management of self-harm, suicide and self-harm in
adolescents, media influences on self-harm and evaluation of suicide preventi-
on initiatives. Key factors that motivate him to continue working in the field of
suicidology are the emergence of new challenges and phenomena, such as the
role of the internet in suicidal behaviour, new types of suicidal behaviour; the
satisfaction of making contributions to prevention of suicide; rewarding colla-
borations with a wide range of people, both nationally and internationally; and
the fact that the field attracts many people who share the same values.
Abstract. Evidence from several countries highlights increasing rates of bo-
th self-harm and suicide in young people. In England for example, rates of
self-harm have recently increased very substantially in female adolescents,
especially those aged under 17 years of age. Also rates of suicide have increa-
sed in under-20 year-olds of both genders over the past decade. As in adults,
self-harm is an important risk factor for future suicide. There is a pressing ne-
ed therefore to identify contributory factors that may assist in the design of
prevention and treatment initiatives to try to reduce this phenomenon and
to help ameliorate its consequences for young people. This has become all
the more pressing with the many difficulties presented by the Covid-19 pan-
demic. In this presentation the epidemiology of self-harm and suicide will be
discussed in the context of the iceberg model. Some key factors that con-
tribute to self-harm will then be considered. These include evidence about
the important role of puberty in the onset of self-harm, and the contribution
of psychiatric disorders, mood instability and sleep disorders. Self-harm and
suicide in children and adolescents often appears to spread between indivi-
duals, with clusters of the behaviour being far more common than in adults.
While media influences on self-harm and suicide continue to be important in
young people, the internet and social networking are making an increasing
https://doi.org/10.26493/978-961-7055-67-2.11 11
