The experiences and needs of supporting individuals of young people who self-harm: A systematic review and thematic synthesis.

Self-harm in young people is a serious international health concern that impacts on those providing informal support: the supporting individuals of young people. We aimed to highlight the experiences, views, and needs of these supporting individuals of young people. We conducted a systematic review and thematic synthesis: PROSPERO CRD42020168527. MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, AMED, CINAHL, ASSIA, and Web of Science were searched from inception to 6 May 2020 with citation tracking of eligible studies done on 1 Oct 2021. Primary outcomes were experiences, perspectives, and needs of parents, carers, or other family members of young people aged 12-25. Searches found 6167 citations, of which 22 papers were included in synthesis. Supporting individuals seek an explanation for and were personally affected by self-harm in young people. It is important that these individuals are themselves supported, especially as they negotiate new identities when handling self-harm in young people, as they attempt to offer support. The GRADE-CERQual confidence in findings is moderate. Recommendations informed by the synthesis findings are made for the future development of interventions. Clinicians and health service providers who manage self-harm in young people should incorporate these identified unmet needs of supporting individuals in a holistic approach to self-harm care. Future research must co-produce and evaluate interventions for supporting individuals. FM was supported by a NIHR School for Primary Care Research GP Career Progression Fellowship (SCPR-157 2020-20) to undertake this review and is now funded by a NIHR Doctoral Fellowship (NIHR300957). CCG is part-funded by the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration West Midlands.

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© 2022 The Authors.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

FM was supported by a NIHR SPCR GP Career Progression Fellowship (SCPR-157 2020–20) to undertake this review. Payment was made to Keele University. The PPI group that supported this review was paid through a grant awarded to FM from the RCGP SFB. FM received travel funds to attend an in person NICE self-harm clinical guideline development committee in February 2020 in the RCOG. FM sits on the NICE self-harm clinical guideline development committee. CCG has received grant funding from the NIHR School for Primary Care Research for a study about self-harm in young people in UK primary care and the implications for their parents. Payment was made to Keele University. All other authors have nothing to declare.