NCJ Number
209147
Journal
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Volume: 44 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2005 Pages: 113-120
Date Published
February 2005
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This study compared two individual-based treatments for adolescents who attempt suicide: a skills-based, cognitive-behavioral treatment and a nondirective, supportive treatment.
Abstract
The research literature on effective psychotherapeutic approaches to treatment for adolescents who attempt suicide is extremely thin and there have been no randomized outcome studies of individual-based treatments. The current study compared treatment outcome results for 2 individual-based treatments, skills-based treatment (SBT) and supportive relationship treatment (SRT), among a sample of 39 adolescents who presented to a general pediatric emergency department or inpatient unit of a child psychiatric hospital after a suicide attempt. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either SBT or SRT; outcome measures were administered 3 months and 6 months following the completion of treatment. Measures included the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children, the Suicide Ideation Questionnaire, and the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, among others. Results of repeated measure analyses of variances (ANOVA's) indicated that both groups achieved significant decreases in suicidal ideation and depressed mood at both the 3 and 6 month follow-ups, however no differences between treatment groups were observed. During the follow-up period there were six suicide reattempts. The high rate of treatment completion in this study indicates that adolescent suicide reattempts can be substantially reduced simply by maintaining clients in treatment until completion. Toward this end it is also crucial to remove barriers to treatment access. Tables, figure, references