Family Financial Situation, Parental Marital Status and Self-Harm amongst Adolescents in Croatia

Th e aim of this study was to determine the level of self-harm behaviors among adolescents in the general population (students of secondary schools in Zagreb, Croatia), as well as to determine if the level of self-harm behaviors diff ered according to fi nancial circumstances of the family and marital status of the parents. Th e study was conducted in 701 adolescents (male and female, age range 14 to 19 years). A specially designed questionnaire that included family and demographic data was used to determine the family fi nancial circumstances. Th e Scale of Auto-Destructiveness measuring instrument was used to assess the level self-harm. Study results revealed that 87.3% of adolescents indicated average levels of self-harm, whereas above-average and high above-average selfharm was indicated in 12.7% of the adolescents. Results also showed that single-parent families signifi cantly diff erentiated the level of self-harm among adolescents of both genders, whereas fi nancial deprivation (perception of fi nancial stress) partially diff erentiated these levels. Practical implications of this study emphasize the importance of social support to parents of adolescents grown up in singleparent and/or fi nancially challenged families