Characteristics of Self-harm Behaviour among Identified Self-harming Youth in Care

The objective of this study was to describe deliberate self-harming (DSH) characteristics in a child-welfare population identified as having threatened or completed self-harm. Secondary data from 621 serious occurrence reports (SOR) that documented 2004–2007 DSH incidents and DSH threats with 252 Canadian youth in care (Y-INC) of the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto (CAS-T) was analyzed. In addition to descriptive analysis, a clustered design binary logistic regression was employed to determine factors associated with DSH characteristics such as repetition, reported behaviour, and severity. Y-INC males ( n = 140) made up a slight majority in both DSH categories: single incident of self-harm (sDSH) vs. repeat incidents (rDSH) (55.4% and 56.0% respectively); the female Y-INC sample (n=112) was responsible for the majority of rDSH incidents (69.1%). Most DSH incidents took place between 6 pm to 12 am, Monday to Friday. Factors found to be associated with DSH in an in-care population of DSH youth were : non-permanent status (non-Crown wards were more likely to self-harm vs. threaten self-harm compared to permanent/Crown wards(OR 2.46, CI 1.26–4.80); older Y-INC (age 14–21) were more likely to receive medical attention due to a DSH incident vs. 6–13 year olds (OR 4.26, CI 2.51–7.21); and female Y-INC were found more likely to have repeat DSH incidents (OR 2.55, CI 1.08–6.02). In addition to heightened supervision and resources for Y-INC that are at-risk for or engage in DSH, greater research attention to this issue is warranted.