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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

Beyond the act: A cross-cultural comparison of adolescent self-harm presentations in Sri Lanka and Türkiye

Beyond the act: cross-cultural comparison of adolescent self-harm presentations in sri lanka and turkey

Among adolescents presenting with self-harm, patterns of methods, triggers, family history, treatment modalities, and service engagement differ markedly between Sri Lanka and Türkiye.

The aim was to compare the clinical characteristics and service engagement of adolescents presenting with self-harm to tertiary healthcare facilities in Sri Lanka, a lower-middle-income country, and Türkiye, an upper-middle-income country, given that deliberate self-harm (DSH) in adolescents strongly predicts suicide, yet the evidence guiding interventions comes predominantly from high-income countries. A retrospective, cross-national cohort study was conducted using routine records from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) at Colombo North Teaching Hospital in Sri Lanka and Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University Hospital in Türkiye in 2024; adolescents aged 10–19 years were included, and self-harm methods, sociodemographic characteristics, school functioning, family psychiatric history, psychosocial triggers, treatment pathways, and service engagement variables were compared using Fisher's exact test. The total sample comprised 48 adolescents (Sri Lanka n=19; Türkiye n=29), with a marked female predominance in both cohorts (84.2% and 79.3%, respectively). Among Sri Lankan adolescents, medication overdose was the predominant method (84.2%), and conflict in parent–adolescent relationships was the leading trigger (57.9%; p=0.005); management relied primarily on non-pharmacological strategies, and earlier disengagement from specialist mental health services was observed. By contrast, Turkish adolescents more frequently engaged in cutting (69.0%; p<0.001), reported triggers related to trauma and peer bullying (62.1% versus 0%; p<0.001), and had a family psychiatric history (69.0% versus 26.3%; p=0.007); pharmacological treatment was more common, and engagement with specialist services lasted longer. The findings support integrating culturally informed assessment and intervention strategies into the management of adolescent self-harm across different CAMHS settings.

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