BBC Scotland news website
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A study has suggested that up to 14% of 15 and 16-year-olds across central Scotland have self-harmed.
Stirling University experts questioned 2,000 teenagers in 2006/07. A follow-up study of 500 of the youths six months later found that 6% had self-harmed.
The experts said self-harming was more prevalent than official figures suggested because less than a quarter of those affected had gone to hospital.
The findings will be presented at a conference on suicide in Glasgow.
The study found that teenagers who reported having concerns about their sexual orientation, a history of sexual abuse or those who knew a family member who had self-harmed were five times more likely to hurt themselves.
High levels of anxiety and low self-esteem were also found to be key factors.
Professor Rory O'Connor, from Stirling University's Suicidal Behaviour Research Group, which carried out the research, said any of those factors made young people five-times more likely to self-harm.
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Page last updated at 07:00 GMT, Wednesday, 27 August 2008 08:00 UK
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