Objective: This study assessed whether there were any changes in receiving help after deliberate self-harm among adolescents over an eight-year period as a result of significant changes in service provision and media attention and, if so, whether individual predictors of receiving help may aid in explaining these changes.
Methods: School surveys among Norwegian adolescents in 1994 (N=7,446) and 2002 (N=11,678) asked identical questions about whether the students had experienced deliberate self-harm and, if so, whether they had received treatment or help from various health services, from informal sources, or from no one.
Results: Among the 1,401 students with valid responses who reported deliberate self-harm, 23% had received treatment or help from health services and 48% had received help from family or friends. These proportions increased significantly from 1994 to 2002, when individual predictors were controlled for. The number of sources from which help had been received also increased significantly over the period, whereas the proportion reporting no receipt of help or treatment from anyone decreased from 49% to 40%. A history of a suicide attempt increased the likelihood of receiving help, both from health services and from family or friends. Male gender and poorer parental attachment increased the likelihood of not having received any help or treatment after deliberate self-harm.
Conclusions: Only about one in four adolescents seems to be reached by health services after deliberate self-harm. Yet the increase in the proportion receiving help from professional and informal sources over this period suggests that changes in societal factors may have reduced barriers for these vulnerable young people to seek help.