{"title":"Self-Injurious Behavior in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Inpatient Units: Actual Aspects of the Complex Care Provision.","authors":"Sigita Lesinskienė, Mariam Afrahi, Kamilė Pociūtė","doi":"10.15388/Amed.2024.31.2.7","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Nonsuicidal self-injurious behavior in children and adolescents is a major concern that requires mental health professionals' attention. The aim of this study is to analyze clinical care aspects of children and adolescents who self-harm in psychiatric hospitals.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>In 2023, 30 various specialists from five different child and adolescent psychiatric units in Lithuania were interviewed. The survey used a semistructured interview consisting of twelve questions related to complex clinical care methods of children and adolescents who self-harm. The interview responses were summarized and grouped into 5 categories: assessment and monitoring, methods and consequences of self-injury, safety measures, prevention and treatment, insights from staff.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Self-injurious behavior in psychiatric inpatient settings was managed through risk assessment, monitoring, communication, medication, counselling, removal of sharp objects, patient allocation, and a several of other methods such as safety contracts, rewards or alternate pain-inducing or self-harm mimicking stimuli. Despite the hospital's safety procedures patients frequently devised alternate methods to self-harm, such as hitting and scratching themselves and using nonspecific materials.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The management of self-harm in children and adolescents psychiatric settings remains insufficient. Further research is needed to explore alternative ways of managing self-injurious behavior in child and adolescent psychiatric hospitals.</p>","PeriodicalId":34365,"journal":{"name":"Acta Medica Lituanica","volume":"31 2","pages":"275-287"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11887821/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Acta Medica Lituanica","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.15388/Amed.2024.31.2.7","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/12/4 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Nonsuicidal self-injurious behavior in children and adolescents is a major concern that requires mental health professionals' attention. The aim of this study is to analyze clinical care aspects of children and adolescents who self-harm in psychiatric hospitals.
Materials and methods: In 2023, 30 various specialists from five different child and adolescent psychiatric units in Lithuania were interviewed. The survey used a semistructured interview consisting of twelve questions related to complex clinical care methods of children and adolescents who self-harm. The interview responses were summarized and grouped into 5 categories: assessment and monitoring, methods and consequences of self-injury, safety measures, prevention and treatment, insights from staff.
Results: Self-injurious behavior in psychiatric inpatient settings was managed through risk assessment, monitoring, communication, medication, counselling, removal of sharp objects, patient allocation, and a several of other methods such as safety contracts, rewards or alternate pain-inducing or self-harm mimicking stimuli. Despite the hospital's safety procedures patients frequently devised alternate methods to self-harm, such as hitting and scratching themselves and using nonspecific materials.
Conclusions: The management of self-harm in children and adolescents psychiatric settings remains insufficient. Further research is needed to explore alternative ways of managing self-injurious behavior in child and adolescent psychiatric hospitals.