A prospective study of suicide and self-harm among young carers using an Australian cohort

Abstract

Objectives: Data from a longitudinal national cohort study was used to test associations between young caregiving and self-harming and suicidal behaviours. Methods: We used data from Waves 6–8 (2014–2018) of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children to assess the effect of ‘core’ caregiving activities (e.g. personal care, assistance moving around) on suicidal and self-harming behaviours. Care activities at 16–17 years were classified as core caregiving, non-core caregiving and no caregiving. Five self-harming and suicidal measures, collected at age 18/19 years, were used to form two outcomes: thoughts (of self-harm or suicide, or plan to suicide) and behaviours (self-harm, suicide attemp..