The project:
- ran in secondary schools in Wales through focus groups.
Focus groups are typically small group sessions (of either four staff, or four 16 to 18 year old pupils) with the researcher, where discussion takes place about the research topic. Research study access barriers were found to exist for talking about self-harm in schools in Wales and so additional focus groups took place with young people aged 16 to 24 years in community youth settings. A key research finding of this study is the youth research participation barriers that are present.
- was interested in each person’s thoughts and opinions.
This consultation project asked questions within a number of participatory activities, listening to what was said and collecting the research participants’ views. These views were written up and analysed. The research project’s findings will be published in research reports and journal articles (some of the initial research study design findings have already been presented at international child and adolescent mental health conferences, as well as self-harm and suicide prevention conferences). The information was anonymised, which means no-one’s information or views can be identified.
- is an important project, trying to explore the school context and young people’s health support needs, for preventive intervention support purposes for self-harm and suicide.
This project explored what sixth form pupils, young people and staff think is the impact of the secondary school context upon adolescent self-harm in schools in Wales. The project also consulted with wider system linked professionals who work with adolescent self-harm in Wales.
The Project’s Research Questions:
The project interviewed research participants in order to explore the following FOUR research questions:
RQ1 – How do staff and students conceptualise adolescent self-harm within their institutional setting ?
RQ2 – What do staff and students think are the institutional socio-cultural features in the school setting that influence adolescent self-harm (for example, what are the institutional norms, values and assumptions)?
RQ3 – What are the existing organisational practices for adolescent self-harm?
RQ4 – What types of preventive intervention support do staff and students think is viable within the secondary school context for adolescent self-harm?
From the research information gathered from the research interviews, the project will generate a theoretical model of the contextual influences upon adolescent self-harm, centred upon the barriers and facilitators in regards to community-based adolescent self-harm health support needs.
THE PUBLIC HEALTH SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL MODEL
In a public health approach it is understood that schools reside within a wider set of societal influences. This is called the public health socio-ecological model. These influences may both inform and shape schools’ organisational practices and responses to adolescent self-harm within their settings (such as in governmental and local authority policy frameworks and directives).
Additional system-level information was therefore gathered from outside of the secondary school context to supplement the explanatory analysis of the initial school-based research data and results. This was completed at both local and national levels in Wales.
For example: community expert representatives in Local Authorities were interviewed (from within education, health and social care); also community experts in the National Public Health Network in Wales.
ABOUT THE RESEARCHER:
Dr Rachel Parker is a researcher from DECIPHer, Cardiff University, and she has completed research on the topic of adolescent self-harm previously. See the BACKGROUND CONTEXT page for more details. Rachel has worked with adolescent self-harm in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, and been part of a Task and Finish Group established for adolescent self-harm in secondary schools. She has an up-to-date police check. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health.
Researcher Profile:
https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/view/cardiffauthors/A21526998.html
