Profiles of vulnerability for suicide and self-harm in UK prisoners: Neurodisability, mood disturbance, substance use, and bullying.

Screening for vulnerability factors associated with historic suicidality and self-harm on entry to prison is critical to help prisons understand how to allocate extremely limited mental health resources. It has been established that having previous suicide attempts increases odds of future suicidali...

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Main Authors: Hope Kent, Bella Magner-Parsons, George Leckie, Tuna Dulgar, Anggita Lusiandari, Lee Hogarth, Huw Williams, Amanda Kirby
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2024-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0296078&type=printable
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author Hope Kent
Bella Magner-Parsons
George Leckie
Tuna Dulgar
Anggita Lusiandari
Lee Hogarth
Huw Williams
Amanda Kirby
author_facet Hope Kent
Bella Magner-Parsons
George Leckie
Tuna Dulgar
Anggita Lusiandari
Lee Hogarth
Huw Williams
Amanda Kirby
author_sort Hope Kent
collection DOAJ
description Screening for vulnerability factors associated with historic suicidality and self-harm on entry to prison is critical to help prisons understand how to allocate extremely limited mental health resources. It has been established that having previous suicide attempts increases odds of future suicidality and self-harm in prison. We utilised administrative screening data from 665 adult male prisoners on entry to a category B prison in Wales, UK, collected using the Do-IT Profiler. This sample represents 16% of all prisoners who entered that prison during a 26-month period. 12% of prisoners reported a history of attempted suicide, 11% reported historic self-harm, and 8% reported a history of both. Historic traumatic brain injury and substance use problems were associated with a 3.3- and 1.9- times increased odds of a historic suicide attempt, respectively, but no significant increased risk of historic self-harm (95% CI: 1.51-6.60 and 1.02-3.50). However, those who were bullied at school had 2.7 times increased odds of reporting a history of self-harm (95% CI: 1.63-6.09). The most salient risk factors associated with both historic suicide and self-harm were higher levels of functional neurodisability (odds ratio 0.6 for a 1 standard deviation change in score, 95% CI: 0.35-0.75), and mood disturbance (odds ratio 2.1 for a 1 standard deviation change in score, 95% CI: 1.26-3.56). Therefore, it could be beneficial for prisons to screen for broader profiles of needs, to better understand how to provide appropriate services to prisoners vulnerable to suicide and self-harm. Multidisciplinary care pathways for prisoner mental health interventions are important, to account for complex multimorbidity. Adaptations may be needed for mental health interventions to be appropriate for, for example, a prisoner with a brain injury. Understanding this broad profile of vulnerability could also contribute to more compassionate responses to suicide and self-harm from prison staff.
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spelling doaj-art-0af198f45ff94f458d769319b7a695fa2025-08-20T01:50:45ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-01191e029607810.1371/journal.pone.0296078Profiles of vulnerability for suicide and self-harm in UK prisoners: Neurodisability, mood disturbance, substance use, and bullying.Hope KentBella Magner-ParsonsGeorge LeckieTuna DulgarAnggita LusiandariLee HogarthHuw WilliamsAmanda KirbyScreening for vulnerability factors associated with historic suicidality and self-harm on entry to prison is critical to help prisons understand how to allocate extremely limited mental health resources. It has been established that having previous suicide attempts increases odds of future suicidality and self-harm in prison. We utilised administrative screening data from 665 adult male prisoners on entry to a category B prison in Wales, UK, collected using the Do-IT Profiler. This sample represents 16% of all prisoners who entered that prison during a 26-month period. 12% of prisoners reported a history of attempted suicide, 11% reported historic self-harm, and 8% reported a history of both. Historic traumatic brain injury and substance use problems were associated with a 3.3- and 1.9- times increased odds of a historic suicide attempt, respectively, but no significant increased risk of historic self-harm (95% CI: 1.51-6.60 and 1.02-3.50). However, those who were bullied at school had 2.7 times increased odds of reporting a history of self-harm (95% CI: 1.63-6.09). The most salient risk factors associated with both historic suicide and self-harm were higher levels of functional neurodisability (odds ratio 0.6 for a 1 standard deviation change in score, 95% CI: 0.35-0.75), and mood disturbance (odds ratio 2.1 for a 1 standard deviation change in score, 95% CI: 1.26-3.56). Therefore, it could be beneficial for prisons to screen for broader profiles of needs, to better understand how to provide appropriate services to prisoners vulnerable to suicide and self-harm. Multidisciplinary care pathways for prisoner mental health interventions are important, to account for complex multimorbidity. Adaptations may be needed for mental health interventions to be appropriate for, for example, a prisoner with a brain injury. Understanding this broad profile of vulnerability could also contribute to more compassionate responses to suicide and self-harm from prison staff.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0296078&type=printable
spellingShingle Hope Kent
Bella Magner-Parsons
George Leckie
Tuna Dulgar
Anggita Lusiandari
Lee Hogarth
Huw Williams
Amanda Kirby
Profiles of vulnerability for suicide and self-harm in UK prisoners: Neurodisability, mood disturbance, substance use, and bullying.
PLoS ONE
title Profiles of vulnerability for suicide and self-harm in UK prisoners: Neurodisability, mood disturbance, substance use, and bullying.
title_full Profiles of vulnerability for suicide and self-harm in UK prisoners: Neurodisability, mood disturbance, substance use, and bullying.
title_fullStr Profiles of vulnerability for suicide and self-harm in UK prisoners: Neurodisability, mood disturbance, substance use, and bullying.
title_full_unstemmed Profiles of vulnerability for suicide and self-harm in UK prisoners: Neurodisability, mood disturbance, substance use, and bullying.
title_short Profiles of vulnerability for suicide and self-harm in UK prisoners: Neurodisability, mood disturbance, substance use, and bullying.
title_sort profiles of vulnerability for suicide and self harm in uk prisoners neurodisability mood disturbance substance use and bullying
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0296078&type=printable
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