Motives for deliberate self-harm in a South African tertiary hospital

South African Journal of Psychiatry

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Motives for deliberate self-harm in a South African tertiary hospital
 
Creator van Zyl, Petrus J.J. Bantjes, Jason Breet, Elsie Lewis, Ian
 
Subject Psychiatry; Psychology; Mental Health; Emergency Medicine deliberate self-harm; DSH; suicide; suicidal behaviour; self-injury; suicide; attempted
Description Background: Although there is a growing body of literature on the epidemiology of deliberate self-harm (DSH) in South Africa, comparatively few studies have investigated the motives for self-harm. No studies have investigated the motives for DSH in Cape Town.Aim: The objective of the study was to identify the range of motives for DSH in Cape Town, and how these motives are associated with different socio-demographic factors, the severity of self-injury and levels of suicidal intent.Setting: Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.Methods: Data were collected from 238 consecutive patients presenting with DSH to the emergency department. The data were analysed by using bivariate and multivariate analyses.Results: Patients engaged in DSH for a range of motives. Interpersonal issues were the most common motive (70%), followed by financial concerns (22%). Male patients were twice as likely as female patients to report interpersonal motives for their self-harm. Patients who reported interpersonal issues were more likely to engage in methods of DSH that involved damage to body tissues. Patients without tertiary education were more likely to report academic concerns as a motive, and patients who reported psychiatric illness as motive for DSH were more likely to require medical interventions than those who did not.Conclusion: This study contributes novel insights into the motives for DSH in the Cape Town context and provides the foundation for continued research on the subject. The study also gives impetus to the development of therapeutic interventions focussed on the motives for self-harm.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2021-01-27
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v27i0.1524
 
Source South African Journal of Psychiatry; Vol 27 (2021); 9 pages 2078-6786 1608-9685
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/1524/1899 https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/1524/1898 https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/1524/1900 https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/1524/1897
 
Coverage Africa; South Africa; Western Cape; Cape Town; Cape Town Metropole 2014-2015 —
Rights Copyright (c) 2021 Petrus J.J. van Zyl, Jason Bantjes, Elsie Breet, Ian Lewis https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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