Self harm in adolescents is an important public health concern, with community studies from around the world reporting a lifetime risk of 13-18%.1 2 3 4 5 Despite this high prevalence, little is known about the longer term relevance of self harm in adolescents for outcomes in early adulthood. Existing follow-up studies have typically been conducted in small clinical samples6 7 8 9; however, clinical presentation occurs in less than 20% of adolescents who self harm in the community.2 3
