School-level differences in self-harm and psychosocial problems associated with self-harm in adolescents

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorMcEvoy, David
dc.contributor.authorBrannigan, Ross
dc.contributor.authorHealy, Colm
dc.contributor.authorDooley, Niamh
dc.contributor.authorArensman, E.
dc.contributor.authorClarke, Mary
dc.contributor.funderHealth Research Board
dc.date.accessioned2026-05-22T08:50:15Z
dc.date.available2026-05-22T08:50:15Z
dc.date.issued2026
dc.description.abstractBackground: The school environment plays a key role in adolescents’ emotional development and well-being, yet little research has compared self-harm and related psychosocial problems across different secondary school types. Methods: Using data from the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) longitudinal cohort, this study examined differences in the prevalence of self-harm and psychosocial risk factors across different school types: single-sex versus coeducational, fee-paying versus non-fee-paying, disadvantaged versus non-disadvantaged, and schools with different religious ethos. Multilevel regression models distinguished school-level from individual-level effects. Results: Almost all variance in self-harm and most of the variance in psychosocial problems associated with self-harm occurred at the individual level. Higher self-harm prevalence in single-sex girls’ schools was accounted for by the greater concentration of girls, who had over twice the odds of self-harm compared with boys (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.71–2.69). No significant differences in self-harm were found by school socio-economic status or religious ethos. Disadvantaged schools showed higher prevalence in seven of nine psychosocial problems, although only internalising problems and truancy/absenteeism remained significantly associated with disadvantaged schools in the fully adjusted models. Adolescents whose parents reported having a religion were less likely to self-harm (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.50–0.75). Discussion: Although schools are important settings for self-harm prevention, findings indicate that interventions should primarily target individuals and high-risk groups. Girls, in particular, may benefit from supports addressing self-harm. Disadvantaged schools, where well-established psychosocial risk factors for self-harm are more common, may benefit from well-being programmes targeting internalising problems and truancy/absenteeism.en
dc.description.sponsorshipThis was funded by the Health Research Board (HRB) Ireland as part of the SPHeRE Programme (Structured Population and Health services Research Education): https://www.sphereprogramme.ie.
dc.description.versionPublished Version
dc.format.extent12
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.authororcidMcEvoy, David
dc.identifier.authororcidBrannigan, Ross
dc.identifier.authororcidHealy, Colm
dc.identifier.authororcidDooley, Niamh
dc.identifier.authororcidArensman, E.§0000-0003-0376-1203
dc.identifier.authororcidClarke, Mary
dc.identifier.citationMcEvoy, D, Brannigan, R, Healy, C, Dooley, N, Arensman, E & Clarke, M 2026, 'School-level differences in self-harm and psychosocial problems associated with self-harm in adolescents', Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, pp. 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1017/ipm.2026.10192
dc.identifier.doi10.1017/ipm.2026.10192
dc.identifier.endpage12
dc.identifier.issn0790-9667
dc.identifier.journaltitleIrish Journal of Psychological Medicine
dc.identifier.otherRIS: urn:D49D6504D34A60FB968160FE6A73CB5C
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0003-0376-1203/work/215518219
dc.identifier.startpage1
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/18820
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherCambridge University Press
dc.relation.urihttps://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105037062440
dc.relation.urihttps://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105037062440?origin=resultslist
dc.rights© 2026, theAuthors. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of College of Psychiatrists of Ireland. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
dc.rights.accessrightsopen access
dc.rights.licensenameAttribution 4.0 International
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.statusPeer reviewed
dc.subjectAdolescents
dc.subjectPsychosocial problem
dc.subjectSchools
dc.subjectSelf-harm
dc.subjectSelf-injury
dc.subject[PublicHealth]
dc.subjectadolescents
dc.subjectschools
dc.subjectpsychosocial problem
dc.subjectself-injury
dc.subjectself-harm
dc.titleSchool-level differences in self-harm and psychosocial problems associated with self-harm in adolescentsen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
school-level-differences-in-self-harm-and-psychosocial-problems-associated-with-self-harm-in-adolescents.pdf
Size:
373.33 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
Collections
School of Public Health