Citation

Choi NG, Marti CN, Conwell Y. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 2015; 46(3): 323-336.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/sltb.12195

PMID

26456016

Abstract

Previous study findings of psychotherapy's effect on suicide prevention have been inconsistent. This study reports the results of secondary analyses of outcome data from a short-term depression treatment on reducing death/suicidal ideation among 158 low-income homebound adults aged 50+. The treatment, in-person or telehealth problem-solving therapy (PST), compared with telephone support call, has been found effective in reducing depressive symptoms and disability among participants. Compared with support call participants, tele-PST participants, but not in-person PST participants, exhibited lower ideation ratings across the follow-up period. Effect sizes at 36 weeks were 0.31 for tele-PST and 0.17 for in-person PST. Hopelessness mediated the effect of tele-PST but not in-person PST; however, in-person PST also alleviated hopelessness, which led to lower ideation. Clinical implications of the findings are discussed.

Language: en