One in five girls aged 14 ‘is at risk of self-harm’

More than one in five girls aged 14 has self-harmed in the past year, with teenagers worrying about their appearance and conforming to stereotypes, research suggests.

The study by the University of York and the Children’s Society, a charity, found that the prevalence of self-harm among girls was much higher than that found by previous research and there is widespread evidence it is on the rise. A survey by The Times in June found that incidents of self-harm in secondary schools had more than doubled since 2012 with more than 70,000 instances last year alone.