• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Sunday, August 31, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Health

University of Ottawa study finds self-harm may be socially contagious among adolescents

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
October 1, 2020
in Health
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

IMAGE

Credit: University of Ottawa

A new study led by University of Ottawa epidemiologist Dr. Ian Colman suggests non-suicidal self-injury–behaviours like cutting oneself without the intent to die–may be contagious among teenagers, who are more likely to harm themselves when they know someone who has.

The study, titled ‘Adolescents’ knowledge of a peer’s non-suicidal self-injury and own non?suicidal self?injury and suicidality’ and published in the peer-reviewed journal Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, uses 2014 data collected from over 1,400 Ontario teenagers between the ages of 14-17. Dr. Colman and his team focused on the answers to the question, “Has a friend of yours ever hurt themselves without the intention to die?” A positive response saw the respondent two to three times as likely to answer ‘Yes’ to the question of whether they have thought about, or done, the same.

These results are of concern, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, because, apart from being a sign of acute distress, non-suicidal self-injury is a predictor of later suicidal behaviour and more widespread.

“Non-suicidal self-injury is much more common than suicide attempts–twice as common in this study–and many, many times more common than death by suicide,” says Dr. Colman, an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and holder of the Canada Research Chair in Mental Health Epidemiology.

Dr. Colman’s study builds on previous research showing teens who are exposed to suicide among their peers are more than twice as likely to demonstrate suicidal behaviour or harbour suicidal thoughts than those who are not exposed. This sort of communication of ideation and behaviour is a form of contagion, and its spread can be tracked by epidemiologists just as physically communicable diseases are studied.

Knowing that suicide is made more likely by knowledge about someone else’s suicide, societal measures have been put in place to protect vulnerable populations from exposure. Less obvious are the measures that can slow or protect against socially contagious behaviours among teens, who can be expected to communicate freely among themselves, without referring to guidelines.

Communication is key, according to experts. Conversations with a trusted adult who lends a listening ear, with no threat of judgment, can be helpful throughout adolescence, including for someone who is having thoughts of self-harm.

“There’s a belief that a parent talking to their child about suicide may increase the risk of suicide or self-harm,” says Dr. Colman, whose previous studies on teen suicide found an association between exposure to suicide and suicidality outcomes in Canadian youth. “(But) there is very little evidence to support that.”

###

Media Contact
Paul Logothetis
[email protected]

Original Source

https://media.uottawa.ca/news/new-study-finds-self-harm-may-be-socially-contagious-among-adolescents

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/acps.13229

Tags: BehaviorDepression/AngerEpidemiologyHealth Care Systems/ServicesMental HealthParenting/Child Care/FamilyPersonality/AttitudeSocial/Behavioral ScienceStress/Anxiety
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Assessing Turkish Nurses’ Evidence-Based Practice Competence

August 31, 2025

Nomograms Enhance Prognosis in ECMO for Septic Shock

August 31, 2025

Tumor Markers Linked to Diabetic Nephropathy in Type 2 Diabetes

August 31, 2025

SGLT2 vs. GLP-1: Outcomes in Diabetes and Kidney Disease

August 31, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • blank

    Breakthrough in Computer Hardware Advances Solves Complex Optimization Challenges

    152 shares
    Share 61 Tweet 38
  • Molecules in Focus: Capturing the Timeless Dance of Particles

    142 shares
    Share 57 Tweet 36
  • New Drug Formulation Transforms Intravenous Treatments into Rapid Injections

    116 shares
    Share 46 Tweet 29
  • Do people and monkeys see colors the same way?

    112 shares
    Share 45 Tweet 28

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Assessing Turkish Nurses’ Evidence-Based Practice Competence

Empowering the Visually Impaired: Multilingual Visual Q&A

Optimizing Cyclist Performance: CFD Insights Unveiled

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.