Visual content and thematic analyses of images shared on social media before and after episodes of self-harm in a UK clinical youth sample.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Little is known about how young people use social media during periods of self-harm. This study aimed to explore how they express themselves online through images posted on social media before and after self-harm and how this expression may change across these periods, employing visual content and thematic analyses.

Design

A prospective cohort study, with qualitative analysis conducted using a recurrent cross-sectional approach and codebook methodology, accounting for chronological changes across time points before, during and after episodes of self-harm.

Setting

Participants were recruited from a mental health NHS Trust in the UK.

Participants

Image data during episodes of self-harm was available for 20 participants. The majority of whom were aged 1

SUBMITTER: Bye A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12820819 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature