The changing gender ratio in occurrence of deliberate self-harm across the lifecycle
Abstract
Background Overall gender ratios are often quoted in studies of deliberate self-harm (DSH) patients, almost always with higher rates in females than males. Reporting a ratio across all ages may conceal important variations in the gender ratio across the life cycle. Method Analysis was done of the gender ratio by age groups in rates of DSH in a consecutive sample of DSH patients presenting to a general hospital over a 10-year period. The patients were identified through a well-established monitoring system. Results The study sample included 2,189 female and 1,439 male patients. While the overall gender rate ratio was 1.5 females to each male, the ratio varied considerably by age group: 8:1 in 10-14-year-olds, 3.1:1 in 15-19-year-olds, 1.6:1 in 20-24-year-olds, approximately 1.3:1 in 25-49-year-olds, and 0.8:1 in people aged 50 years and over. Conclusion Statements about overall gender ratios for DSH conceal important changes in the ratio across the life cycle. These changes probably reflect differences in development and problems faced in adolescence, changes in motivation for DSH with age, and the closer resemblance of DSH to suicide in older age groups.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
This female majority reflects the typical pattern of self-harm in children and adolescents.
“reflecting the typical pattern for SH in children and adolescents (Hawton 2008a).”
From Interventions for self-harm in children and adolescents (2021) · cites this paper as Hawton 2008a
Cites
Deliberate self harm in adolescents: self report survey in schools in England
Hawton, K., Rodham, K., Evans, E., & Weatherall, R. (2002) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.325.7374.1207 · Cited by 1,008 · see citing works
Self-citationSuicide After Deliberate Self-Harm: A 4-Year Cohort Study
Cooper, J., Kapur, N., Webb, R., Lawlor, M., Guthrie, E., Mackway-Jones, K., & Appleby, L. (2005) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.162.2.297 · Cited by 690 · see citing works
Sex and suicide: Gender differences in suicidal behaviour
Hawton, K. (2000) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.177.6.484 · Cited by 504 · see citing works
Self-citationHawton, K., & Harriss, L. (2007) · The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry · doi:10.4088/jcp.v68n1017 · Cited by 226 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Psychosocial interventions following self-harm in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Hawton, K., Witt, K. G., Salisbury, T. L. T., Arensman, E., Gunnell, D., Hazell, P., Townsend, E., & van Heeringen, K. (2016) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(16)30070-0 · Cited by 361 · see citing works
Self-citationInterventions for self-harm in children and adolescents
Hawton, K., Witt, K. G., Taylor Salisbury, T. L., Arensman, E., Gunnell, D., Townsend, E., van Heeringen, K., & Hazell, P. (2015) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd012013 · Cited by 261 · see citing works
Self-citationPerez, J., Venta, A., Garnaat, S., & Sharp, C. (2012) · Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment · doi:10.1007/s10862-012-9292-7 · Cited by 184 · see citing works
Interventions for self-harm in children and adolescents
Witt, K. G., Hetrick, S. E., Rajaram, G., Hazell, P., Taylor Salisbury, T. L., Townsend, E., & Hawton, K. (2021) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd013667.pub2 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
Self-citationAdolescent self-harm and suicidal thoughts in the ALSPAC cohort: a self-report survey in England
Kidger, J., Heron, J., Lewis, G., Evans, J., & Gunnell, D. (2012) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/1471-244x-12-69 · Cited by 148 · see citing works
HPA axis hyperactivity and attempted suicide in young adult mood disorder inpatients
Jokinen, J., & Nordström, P. (2009) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2008.10.015 · Cited by 143 · see citing works
Repetitive Nonsuicidal Self‐Injury as Experiential Avoidance Among a Community Sample of Adolescents
Howe‐Martin, L. S., Murrell, A. R., & Guarnaccia, C. A. (2012) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.21868 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
Means restriction for the prevention of suicide by jumping
Okolie, C., Wood, S., Hawton, K., Kandalama, U., Glendenning, A. C., Dennis, M., Price, S. F., Lloyd, K., & John, A. (2020) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd013543 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Hawton, K., & Harriss, L.
- Affiliations
- Warneford Hospital (GB)
- Venue
- Crisis
- Publisher
- Hogrefe Publishing Group
- Published
- 2008-01
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 4-10
- ISSN
- 0227-5910 (ISSN-L)
- 2151-2396
- OpenAlex
- W2052754731
- Cited by
- 106
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 7.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Crisis (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Injury Epidemiology and Prevention
- Keywords
- self-harm, sex ratio, life cycle, age differences, adolescents, young adults, older adults, suicide, hospital presentations
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Female, Humans, Life Change Events, Male, Prevalence, Self-Injurious Behavior, Sex Distribution, Intention
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
