Perspectives of parents of adolescents with repeated non-suicidal self-injury on sharing their caretaking experiences with peers: a qualitative study.

Background: The prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents has increased over the years. Most parents, however, are poorly informed and confused about this behavior. Sharing caretaking experiences with parents in similar situations seems to be beneficial. Nevertheless, few researchers have explored the views of parents who share their caretaking experiences with peers. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the perspectives of parents of adolescents with repeated non-suicidal self-injury on sharing their caretaking experiences with peers as well as the motivations for and barriers to this behavior. Methods: This qualitative study adopted a purposive sampling method. Participants (16 mothers and 2 fathers) were recruited from the mental health center of a tertiary hospital in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. A total of 18 semistructured face-to-face individual interviews were conducted. All interviews were audio-recorded and analyzed thematically using NVivo 11. Results: Three themes and nine subthemes were identified: (1) sharable caretaking experiences: reflection and transformation, self-emotional management, and diversified support; (2) motivations for sharing: empathy, reciprocity, and meaning; and (3) barriers to sharing: inadequate knowledge, low self-identity, and concerns for children. Conclusion: Parents accumulate a wealth of experience during their long-term care of adolescents with repeated non-suicidal self-injury. Although most parents are willing to share their caretaking experiences with peers, there are several barriers. Therefore, in order to increase parents' motivation to share, psychological education is necessary.

Meta-analysis of the relationship between bullying and depressive symptoms in children and adolescents.

Childhood and adolescence are critical periods for physical and mental development; thus, they are high-risk periods for the occurrence of mental disorders. The purpose of this study was to systematically evaluate the association between bullying and depressive symptoms in children and adolescents. We searched the PubMed, MEDLINE and other databases to identify studies related to bullying behavior and depressive symptoms in children and adolescents. A total of 31 studies were included, with a total sample size of 133,688 people. The results of the meta-analysis showed that the risk of depression in children and adolescents who were bullied was 2.77 times higher than that of those who were not bullied; the risk of depression in bullying individuals was 1.73 times higher than that in nonbullying individuals; and the risk of depression in individuals who bullied and experienced bullying was 3.19 times higher than that in nonbullying-bullied individuals. This study confirmed that depression in children and adolescents was significantly associated with being bullied, bullying, and bullying-bullied behavior. However, these findings are limited by the quantity and quality of the included studies and need to be confirmed by future studies.

A qualitative study of experiences of non suicidal self injury in adolescents with depression / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To understand the real experience and feelings of self injurious cutting in adolescents with depression, to provide guidance for clinical targeted interventions.@*Methods@#During November 2021 to May 2022, 19 adolescent patients with depression who had cut themselves as the type of non suicidal self injury were recruited from a tertiary first class psychiatric hospital in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. All the participants were interviewed in a semi structured manner, which used the interpretative phenomenological analysis to analyze the transcription data.@*Results@#The experience and feelings of non suicidal self injury in adolescent with depression could be summarized into five themes: self injury thoughts that arise under external interference; self injurious behavior in a thousand thoughts; painful but a happy experience of self injury; cutting as the most frequently selected form of non suicidal self injury; decreases in self injurious behavior reduced when they feel love and responsibility.@*Conclusion@#Non suicidal self injury of adolescent patients with depression are affected by various factors. Clinicians should provide targeted clinical care according to the characteristics of patients, as well as the no suicide contract, alternative skills of non suicidal self injury behaviors, and a multi dimensional social support platform with the families of patients.