Citation

Harrington R, Kerfoot M, Dyer E, McNiven F, Gill J, Harrington V, Woodham A. J. Adolesc. 2000; 23(1): 13-20.

Affiliation

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Manchester, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1006/jado.1999.0293

PMID

10700368

Abstract

In a randomized trial of a brief family intervention with adolescents who had deliberately poisoned themselves, we have previously reported that, within the group of patients who did not have major depression, the family intervention was significantly superior to routine care in reducing suicidal thinking. The present paper examined whether efficacy was related to changes in family functioning or other possible mediating variables. Potential mediators included family functioning, hopelessness, depression, adolescent problem-solving and compliance with treatment. The efficacy of the family intervention in reducing suicidal ideation within the non-depressed sub-group was probably not mediated by changes in these variables. The implications of this finding are discussed.

Language: en