Adolescent-parent communication in self-harm.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the association between communication with parents and self-harm in 14-19-year-old adolescents.


METHODS
A total of 36 female and 16 male adolescents presenting to the accident and emergency department of a general hospital; 52 hospital-based controls were interviewed and studied using the following scales: Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale, Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale, Adolescent-Family Inventory of Life Events and Changes Scale, Children's Depression Index, and Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale.


RESULTS
The absence of a family confidant was very strongly associated with adolescent self-harm. Despite controlling for a wide range of possible causal factors, poorer parent-adolescent communication remained strongly associated with self-harm. The effect of poorer communication on self-harm was strongest in the group with and internal locus of control.


CONCLUSIONS
Impairment of communication between adolescents and their parents may be important in the origins of adolescent self-harm.
Tulloch
A L
AL
Clinical School, University of Tasmania, Australia.
Blizzard
L
L
Pinkus
Z
Z
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012307:Risk Factors; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology