title: Changes in parenting strategies after a young person's self-harm: a qualitative study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  When faced with the discovery of their child's self-harm, mothers and fathers may re-evaluate their parenting strategies. This can include changes to the amount of support they provide their child and changes to the degree to which they control and monitor their child.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted an in-depth qualitative study with 37 parents of young people who had self-harmed in which we explored how and why their parenting changed after the discovery of self-harm.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Early on, parents often found themselves "walking on eggshells" so as not to upset their child, but later they felt more able to take some control. Parents' reactions to the self-harm often depended on how they conceptualised it: as part of adolescence, as a mental health issue or as "naughty behaviour". Parenting of other children in the family could also be affected, with parents worrying about less of their time being available for siblings. Many parents developed specific strategies they felt helped them to be more effective parents, such as learning to avoid blaming themselves or their child for the self-harm and developing new ways to communicate with their child. Parents were generally eager to pass their knowledge on to other people in the same situation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Parents reported changes in their parenting behaviours after the discovery of a child's self-harm. Professionals involved in the care of young people who self-harm might use this information in supporting and advising parents.
authors.affiliation: University Department of Psychiatry, Centre for Suicide Research, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Anne E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Ferrey
authors.affiliation: School of Healthcare, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
authors.forename: Nicholas D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.affiliation: University Department of Psychiatry, Centre for Suicide Research, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Simkin
authors.affiliation: Health Experiences Research Group, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK ; NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Locock
authors.affiliation: Central Oxon CAMHS, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.affiliation: Centre for Suicide Prevention, University of Manchester and Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust, Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Navneet
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kapur
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gunnell
authors.affiliation: University Department of Psychiatry, Centre for Suicide Research, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK ; Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, OX3 7JX UK.
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hawton
keywords: Adolescence; Mental health; Parenting; Parents; Self-harm