Adolescent Deliberate Self-Harm Therapies with the Family Inclusion: Literature Review of Therapies for Adolescent Self-Harm

Abstract

Deliberate self-harm (DSH) is a rapidly negative phenomenon. Although participants include multiple age groups, DSH vastly effects the adolescent population. Adolescent DSH is not solely a causation of mental health disorders, DSH has been numerously connected to healthy adolescent population through multiple community and school based research as a maladaptive coping strategy. Thus, adolescent DSH potentially affects vast numbers, not restricted to participants but including parents and family members.

The concept for this study was to collate frequent therapies employed to manage adolescent DSH, therapeutic content, and potential success.

A systematic literature review was conducted to compile frequent therapies employed to manage adolescent DSH, from multiple databases. Meta-summary analysis was employed, and the subsequent source studies coded into according themes.

Multiple therapies are employed to manage adolescent DSH, with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectic Behavioural Therapy (DBT), Family Based Therapy (FBT), Multisystemic therapy (MST), and No-Harm Contracts (NHC) the most commonplace. In conclusion a paucity of research is available based solely upon adolescent DSH, thus additional research would benefit this age population and the type of intervention therapy best suited to manage adolescent DSH.