A systematic review of psychosocial interventions for suicidal adolescents

Suicide is a leading cause of death for young people and rates of serious suicidal thoughts are even higher. Due to these high rates and potential harm to youth, effective interventions are necessary. The purpose of this systematic review was to determine the impact of interventions designed for suicidal adolescents. Both quasi-experimental and experimental designs in the published and unpublished literature were included, and a total of 17 studies were located. According to meta-analysis, intervention group participants were slightly less likely to have suicidal and self-harm events than control group participants. However, when studies assessed outcome at a later period than immediately after intervention, experimental group participants were slightly more likely to have suicidal and self-harm events than control group participants. For studies that measured suicidal ideation at posttest, intervention group participants were slightly less likely to report suicidal ideation than control group participants, both at posttest and at follow-up. These contradictory findings are explored and discussed.

Research highlights
► Systematic review determined the impact of interventions designed for suicidal adolescents.
► The experimental group was slightly less likely to have suicidal events than control group at posttest.
► However, at follow-up, the experimental group was slightly more likely to have suicidal events than control group.
► Both at posttest and follow-up, the experimental group was less likely to report suicidal ideation than the controls.