Deliberate self-harm (DSH) has become a common problem among children and teenagers. However, while much research has been carried out in this area, the effects on the parents of these young people have largely been ignored, an Irish study has found.

Deliberate self-harm can include a suicide attempt that did not succeed, as well as self-harming incidents where suicide was not the intent. Such incidents may stem from a desire to communicate or relieve stress and can include drug overdoses and self-cutting.

Figures from the National Registry of Deliberate Self-Harm show that in 2011, over 9,800 people in Ireland attended hospitals as a result of more than 12,200 acts of self-harm. The problem was most common among teenage girls, aged between 15 and 19.

According to researchers from Temple Street Children's Hospital and University College Dublin, there is a ‘considerable amount of literature investigating factors associated with DSH risk and the effects of DSH on the child. However, there is a dearth of research examining the impact of DSH on parents, and there are few support programmes targeted at this population'.

The researchers monitored the progress of 130 parents who took part in a support programme aimed specifically at them. Issues such as parental wellbeing, family communication and parental satisfaction were assessed.

The parents attended the programme between 2009 and 2012 and completed six questionnaires about it.

The study found that almost nine in 10 of the parents were suffering from minor psychological distress, while six in 10 admitted to having poor social support.

It also found that poor wellbeing among parents was significantly linked to poorer parenting satisfaction, poorer communication within the family and more difficulties for the child.

Wellbeing among parents was particularly low if their children were not attending school.

Meanwhile, the parents of children who had received a formal diagnosis of a mental health disorder had significantly poorer wellbeing than those whose children had not received such a diagnosis.

The researchers concluded that the parents of children and teenagers who self-harm ‘face considerable emotional and practical challenges'.

"They have low levels of wellbeing, parenting satisfaction, social support, and experience poor family communication," they noted.

Objective factors, such as a child's absence from school, can contribute to the problem.

They added that given the importance of parental support for young people who self-harm, ‘consideration should be given to the need for individual or group support for such parents'.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health.