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Variation in deliberate self-harm around Christmas and New Year

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  • Bergen, Helen
  • Hawton, Keith

Abstract

Seasonal and temporal variations in suicide by patient and demographic groups, though important, have been investigated infrequently. This study examined patterns of non-fatal deliberate self-harm (DSH) during Christmas and New Year (from December 16th to January 6th) by specific patient and demographic group. The sample comprised 19,346 people who presented with 31,369 episodes of DSH to a general hospital Emergency Department in Oxford, UK. Autoregression analysis of all episodes from 1976 to 2003 (controlling for day of the week, month and year) revealed significant reductions (-30% to -40%) in the occurrence of DSH compared with expected numbers on each day from December 19th to 26th (except the 23rd), though no significant increase was found on any of the subsequent 11 days. When analysed separately, young people aged under 25 years showed decreases (-60%) in the occurrence of DSH on several days throughout Christmas (p

Suggested Citation

  • Bergen, Helen & Hawton, Keith, 2007. "Variation in deliberate self-harm around Christmas and New Year," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(5), pages 855-867, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:65:y:2007:i:5:p:855-867
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ajdacic-Gross, Vladeta & Wang, Jen & Bopp, Matthias & Eich, Dominique & Rössler, Wulf & Gutzwiller, Felix, 2003. "Are seasonalities in suicide dependent on suicide methods? A reappraisal," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(7), pages 1173-1181, October.
    2. Chew, Kenneth S. Y. & McCleary, Richard, 1995. "The spring peak in suicides: A cross-national analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 223-230, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Laura Birg & Anna Goeddeke, 2016. "Christmas Economics—A Sleigh Ride," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(4), pages 1980-1984, October.
    2. Phillips, David & Barker, Gwendolyn E. & Brewer, Kimberly M., 2010. "Christmas and New Year as risk factors for death," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(8), pages 1463-1471, October.
    3. Wilfred Hing-Sang Wong & James Chun-Yin Lee & Frederick Ka-Wing Ho & Tim Man-Ho Li & Patrick Ip & Chun-Bong Chow, 2017. "Stock Market Fluctuations and Self-Harm among Children and Adolescents in Hong Kong," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-9, June.
    4. Michael Mutz, 2016. "Christmas and Subjective Well-Being: a Research Note," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 11(4), pages 1341-1356, December.

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