ArticleJournal of affective disorders2021
Comorbidity of self-harm and disordered eating in young people: Evidence from a UK population-based cohort.
Article in Journal of affective disorders, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Trial
- Clinical characteristics linked to persistent and emerging eating disorder risk trajectories in young people seeking mental health care.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- Incidence trends and clinical management of self-harm in adolescents and young adults in catalonia: primary care cohort study (2013-2022).European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- How Do the Psychological Functions of Eating Disorder Behaviours Compare with Self-Harm? A Systematic Qualitative Evidence Synthesis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The role of body image dissatisfaction in the relationship between body size and disordered eating and self-harm: complimentary Mendelian randomization and mediation analyses.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Article
- Attentional Processing Biases in Young People With Binging and Purging Behavior.Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- Practitioner Review: Treatments for young people who self-harm - challenges and recommendations for research and clinical practice.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2025Review
- Distinct personality profiles associated with disease risk and diagnostic status in eating disorders.Journal of affective disorders · 2024Article
- Emotional dysregulation in childhood and disordered eating and self-harm in adolescence: prospective associations and mediating pathways.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2023Article
- Co-occurrence of nonsuicidal self-injury and eating disorder pathology in adolescents.The International journal of eating disorders · 2023Article
- Age- and sex-dependent increase in self-harm among adolescents with mental health problems in East China during COVID-19 related society-wide isolation.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Emerging ecophenotype: reward anticipation is linked to high-risk behaviours after sexual abuse.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2022Article
- Predictors of Self-Harm Types in Members of Online Communities: Age As a Moderating Variable.Consortium psychiatricum · 2022Article
- Disordered eating and self-harm as risk factors for poorer mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: a UK-based birth cohort study.Journal of eating disorders · 2021Article
- Disordered eating and self-harm as risk factors for poorer mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A UK-based birth cohort study.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSelf-harm and eating disorders are often comorbid in clinical samples but their co-occurrence in the general population is unclear. Given that only a small proportion of individuals who self-harm or have disordered eating present to clinical services, and that both self-harm and eating disorders are associated with substantial morbidity and mortality, it is important to study these behaviours at a population level.
methodsWe assessed the co-occurrence of self-harm and disordered eating behaviours in 3384 females and 2326 males from a UK population-based cohort: the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Participants reported on their self-harm and disordered eating behaviours (fasting, purging, binge-eating and excessive exercise) in the last year via questionnaire at 16 and 24 years. At each age we assessed how many individuals who self-harm also reported disordered eating, and how many individuals with disordered eating also reported self-harm.
resultsWe found high comorbidity of self-harm and disordered eating. Almost two-thirds of 16-year-old females, and two-in-five 24-year old males who self-harmed also reported some form of disordered eating. Young people with disordered eating reported higher levels of self-harm at both ages compared to those without disordered eating. LIMITATIONS: We were not able to measure whether participants identified their disordered eating as a method of self-harm.
conclusionsSelf-harm and disordered eating commonly co-occur in young people in the general population. It is important to screen for both sets of difficulties to provide appropriate treatment.
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