Open AccessEffectiveness of a Health Education Intervention on Prevention of Self-harm Amongst Adolescents in New Delhi
Author(s) -
Mushtari Shabbir,
Bimla Kapoor,
Mitali Biswas
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the physician
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2732-5148
pISSN - 2732-513X
DOI - 10.38192/1.6.3.13
Subject(s) - harm , government (linguistics) , public health , medicine , intervention (counseling) , psychology , environmental health , psychiatry , nursing , social psychology , linguistics , philosophy
Adolescents are vulnerable to various life stresses and often adapt to negative coping mechanisms in the form of self-harm.We designed a study to assesses the comparative prevalence, social determinants and risk of self-harm among cohorts of adolescent school children. We investigated the impact of a health education intervention on the knowledge of prevention of self-harm among public and independent/private school adolescents in New Delhi, India.Method: Questionnaire data was collected for phase - I from (n = 100 each) adolescents of government and private schools, to determine risk and prevalence. Phase II data was acquired following the provision of an education booklet on prevention of self-harm from adolescents (government n=39 and private schools n=40) reporting moderate risk.Results: The prevalence of self-harm was 40% among government and 38% among private school adolescents. There were 4% of adolescents in private and 1% in government schools who demonstrated moderate to high risk of self-harm. There was a significant association between self-harm and risk factors including impulsiveness, interpersonal relationships, academic, peer influence, abuse and media influence. Health Education was effective in increasing the knowledge of both cohorts on self-harm behaviour, and its prevention.Conclusion: Our study demonstrates the benefit of health education intervention regarding awareness of self-harm behaviour.