Table 2.
Self-harm characteristics by gender reported by 77 young people detained in certified schools in Sri Lanka.
| Characteristic | Response | Male (n = 44) | Female (n = 33) | p-Value for Difference between Groups |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (row %) | n (row %) | |||
| First self-harm episode prior to certified school? | Yes | 31 (66%) | 16 (34%) | 0.056 2 |
| No | 12 (41%) | 17 (59%) | ||
| Method of self-harm used 1 | Cutting | 34 (52%) | 31 (48%) | 0.046 3 |
| Poisoning | 4 (25%) | 12 (75%) | 0.004 3 | |
| Banging head | 7 (100%) | 0 (0%) | 0.016 3 | |
| Strangling | 1 (33%) | 2 (67%) | 0.395 3 | |
| Other | 0 (0%) | 2 (100%) | 0.098 3 | |
| Expected outcome of most recent self-harm episode | Definitely die | 9 (47%) | 10 (53%) | 0.001 2 |
| Might die | 1 (10%) | 9 (90%) | ||
| Will not die | 33 (70%) | 14 (30%) | ||
| Time spent planning most recent self-harm episode | No planning | 28 (56%) | 22 (44%) | 0.395 2 |
| <3 h | 10 (71%) | 4 (29%) | ||
| >3 h | 6 (46%) | 7 (54%) | ||
| Number of lifetime self-harm episode | ≤10 | 40 (65%) | 22 (35%) | 1.000 2 |
| 11–50 | 8 (62%) | 5 (38%) | ||
| ≤51 | 1 (50%) | 1 (50%) | ||
| Reasons for self-harm 1 | Anger | 14 (58%) | 10 (42%) | 0.887 3 |
| Sadness | 11 (48%) | 12 (52%) | 0.281 3 | |
| Family problems | 3 (30%) | 7 (70%) | 0.063 3 | |
| Frustration | 2 (33%) | 4 (67%) | 0.220 3 | |
| Other | 17 (49%) | 18 (51%) | 0.165 3 |
1 Not mutually exclusive; 2 Fisher’s exact test ignoring missing data; 3 Test of proportions by response where multiple responses are available.