Early warning signs of self-harm can appear in children almost a decade before it starts, say researchers.
The team at the University of Cambridge found two distinct groups that were more likely to harm themselves.
The first included those who struggle to control their emotions, and the second featured youngsters more willing to take risks than others their age.
The findings may mean there is a large window of opportunity to improve children’s mental health.
About one-in-six in the study reported self-harming by the age of 14. Self-harm is in turn linked to a higher risk of suicide.
“Our current way of supporting them is overwhelmed, we typically wait for problems to escalate and then intervene to see if we can do anything,” Dr Duncan Astle, one of the researchers, told the BBC.
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