August 28, 2015

teenage goths, self-harm and depression

Depression and self-harm are common among teenagers, with up to one in five 15 year olds in England saying they self-harm. Some evidence has suggested that some subcultures are more strongly associated with depression and self-harm than others, but it is always difficult to work out whether these results are simply the result of study limitations and confounding variables. Researchers publishing in The Lancet Psychiatry have used longitudinal data to assess whether a teenager’s social group at 15 predicts their depression and self-harm when aged 18.

Two of the authors came to the Science Media Centre to discuss issues such as:

• Does being a goth make one more likely to self-harm?
• What is the impact of being part of another youth subculture?
• How big an impact does youth subculture have on depression and self-harm? How does this compare to other risk factors?
• Why would a subculture have such an effect? Is it more likely that people with a susceptibility to depression would associate with a particular subculture?
• Should subcultures with greater links to depression receive targeted care?
• Should parents be worried if their teenagers are part of a particular subculture

Speakers:

Prof. Lucy Bowes, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford

Dr Rebecca Pearson, Research Associate in Epidemiology, School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol