@article{ref1,
title="The online treatment of suicidal ideation: a randomised controlled trial of an unguided web-based intervention",
journal="Behaviour research and therapy",
year="2019",
author="De Jaegere, Eva and van Landschoot, Renate and Van Heeringen, Kees and van Spijker, Bregje A. J. and Kerkhof, Ad J. F. M. and Mokkenstorm, Jan K. and Portzky, Gwendolyn",
volume="119",
number="",
pages="e103406-e103406",
abstract="Suicide is a major public health issue, and treatment of suicidal thoughts may contribute to its prevention. Provision of online treatment of suicidal ideation may reduce barriers that suicidal individuals experience in face-to-face treatment. We therefore aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of a web-based intervention targeting a reduction of suicidal ideation. We carried out a two-arm, parallel-design, randomised controlled trial in the general population in Flanders (Belgium) (registered as NCT03209544). Participants who were 18 years or older and experienced suicidal ideation were included. The intervention group (n = 365) received access to the unguided web-based intervention, and the control group (n = 359) was placed on a waitlist. Assessments were carried out at baseline and at 6 and 12 weeks. Participants reported high levels of suicidal ideation, depression, hopelessness, worrying, and anxiety at baseline. Compared to the control group, participants in the intervention group experienced a significant decline in suicidal ideation, depression, hopelessness, worrying, and anxiety both at post-test and at follow-up. An important limitation of the study was a high dropout rate, in particular in the intervention group. Our findings suggest that the online self-help intervention was more effective in reducing suicidal ideation and suicide-related symptoms than a waitlist control in a severely affected population. It can help in filling the gap between crisis help and face-to-face treatment.<br><br>Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0005-7967",
doi="10.1016/j.brat.2019.05.003",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2019.05.003"
}