Safety Risks for 'Goth' Youths?

April 14, 2006 -- New research shows that self-harm and attempted suicide may be more common among youths who strongly identify with the "Goth" subculture.

"'Goth' could be described as a subgenre of punk with a dark and sinister aesthetic, with aficionados conspicuous by their range of distinctive clothing and makeup and tastes in music," the researchers write in BMJ Online First.

The study was done in western Scotland. It included 1,258 teens who were 19 years old. Participants had joined a larger survey of health and lifestyles in 1994, when they were 11 years old. They took follow-up surveys at ages 13, 15, and 19.

At age 19, participants were asked if they had ever tried to kill or deliberately hurt themselves. They were also asked if they identified (past and present) with 15 different subcultures, including Goth, punk, skater, hip hop, and pop subcultures.

Study's Results

The vast majority of participants said they didn't identify at all with the Goth subculture.

However, 15 youths said they were Goths or "heavily" identified with the Goth subculture. Eight of those participants (53%) reported ever deliberately trying to harm themselves and almost as many reported ever attempting suicide (47%).

Adjusting for other factors -- including social class, parents' marital status, smoking, drug use (not counting alcohol), and past depression -- didn't change the results.

Self-harm involved cutting, scratching, or scoring the skin. The 15 students who heavily identified with the Goth subculture or called themselves Goths were more likely to report ever harming themselves than their peers who were heavily into the other subcultures, such as punk, which were also associated with self-harm.

Researchers' Comments

With relatively few participants who strongly identified with the Goth subculture, the researchers aren't jumping to any conclusions. Self-harm and suicide attempts certainly aren't limited to any particular group of youths, and stereotyping never helps.

Robert Young, a University of Glasgow research scientist who worked on the study, commented on the findings in a news release.

"Although only fairly small numbers of young people identify as belonging to the Goth subculture, rates of self-harm and attempted suicide are very high among this group," Young says.

"One common suggestion is they may be copying subcultural icons or peers. But since our study found that more reported self-harm before, rather than after, becoming a Goth, this suggests that young people with a tendency to self-harm are attracted to the Goth subculture," he continues.

"Rather than posing a risk, it's also possible that by belonging to this subculture, young people are gaining valuable social and emotional support from their peers. However, the study was based on small numbers and replication is needed to confirm our results," Young says.