REPEAT DELIBERATE SELF-HARM - A LINK WITH CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE

The purpose of this study was to identify whether a past history of ch ildhood sexual abuse is a risk factor for repeated Deliberate Self-Har m (DSH). The study was a 6-month prospective study of 178 patients res ponsible for 190 consecutive cases of DSH seen during a 3-month censor ing period. Patients were identified by review of the in-patient and a ccident and emergency (A&E) records of all cases of DSH at the A&E dep artment of a major teaching hospital. Patients with a history of child hood sexual abuse showed a marked clustering of four major risk factor s for repeat DSH (unemployment, past deliberate self-poisoning, self-i njury and psychiatric illness) and were significantly more likely to r epeat DSH within the 6-month follow-up period.