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Researchers Identify 4 Comorbidities That Impact Self-Harm Risk
In a study published in Pediatrics, researchers identified four psychiatric comorbidities that impact self-harm risk in pediatric patients.
On May 1, 2023, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published a research article identifying four profiles of psychiatric comorbidities that impact self-harm risk in pediatric patients: low-risk, moderate risk, high-risk, and very high-risk profiles. Each profile coincided with varying threats of self-harm.
The researchers collected data from pediatric patients between 5 and 18 who had a neuropsychiatric event between April 2016 and March 2020. Data were collected from 1,098 patients admitted at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital and the Children’s Hospital of Colorado. Roughly 37% of those patients had been diagnosed with a self-harm event.
The low-risk profile included pediatric patients between 5 and 9 years old with a non-mental health diagnosis and no mood, behavioral, psychotic, developmental, trauma, or substance use disorder. Compared to the baseline group, the low-risk group was 92% less likely to have a self-harm diagnosis.
Then moderate-risk profile was used for patients with some mood and behavioral disorders but excluded depressive disorders. This patient group had similar outcomes to the baseline-risk group.
The high-risk group was female patients between 14 and 17 with depression, anxiety, and substance or trauma-related disorders. This profile also included patients with personality and eating disorders. The high-risk group was over five times more likely to have a self-harm diagnosis than the baseline or moderate group.
Male patients between 10 and 13 with anxiety and depressive disorders comprised the very high-risk profile. According to the study, this category included bipolar disorder ADHD, trauma-related disorders, and developmental disorders. This profile of patients was over seven times as likely to have a self-harm event than the baseline group.
“Our study identified four distinct profiles of psychiatric comorbidity in children and adolescents with varying levels of risk for a serious self-harm event. These clinical profiles are based on a more comprehensive and flexible framework that complements previous assessments and can help identify children at elevated risk for a self-harm event,” concluded researchers in the study.
Understanding the risk of self-harm based on a patient’s diagnosis may allow parents and providers to introduce harm-reduction interventions and minimize the risk of suicide or other adverse outcomes.
