Family Therapy and Suicidal Ideation

A new study found that there is a significant outcome with family therapy in persons having suicidal ideation. The study was published in the journal Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Depression is one of the common mental disorders in children and adolescents. Suicidal behaviors have also increased significantly over the past few years. Suicidal ideation in people suffering from depression is not much specified. Sometimes adolescents suffering from depression and suicidal ideation may have significant problems in the family. Hence researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to understand the effectiveness of family therapy compared to other active treatments for adolescents with depressive disorders or suicidal ideation.

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A systematic search was carried out using keywords in databases like the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, AMED, CINAHL, and Web of Science. Two meta-analyses of the outcomes for depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation were carried out.

Results:

• 5,940 records were screened and 10 randomized controlled studies of family therapy for depressive disorder or suicidal ideation in adolescents with an active treatment comparison group were identified.
• Nine studies reported outcome measures of depressive symptoms and four reported outcome measures of suicidal ideation.
• The meta-analysis showed no significant difference between family therapy and active comparison treatments for end-of-treatment levels of depression.
• For suicidal ideation, a significant effect in the favour of family therapy over comparison treatments for suicidal ideation was found.

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Thus, the researchers concluded that when compared to other psychotherapies, family therapy was not superior in the treatment of depressive disorder but for suicidal ideation, it had shown significantly improved outcomes. As the evidence for the treatment of depression is of low quality, they suggested more research be done.

For further reading, click here: https://doi.org/10.1177/13591045221125005

Waraan L, Siqveland J, Hanssen-Bauer K, et al. Family therapy for adolescents with depression and suicidal ideation: A systematic review and meta-analysis [published online ahead of print, 2022 Sep 2]. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2022;13591045221125005.