Development and Effectiveness of an Individual Cognitive Behavioral Program for Suicide Attempters

Development and Effectiveness of an Individual Cognitive Behavioral Program for Suicide Attempters

Purpose: Suicide attempters experience high levels of psychological stress such as depression, anxiety, hopelessness, guilt. The study aimed to develop an individual cognitive behavioral program for suicide attempters and verify its effectiveness. Methods: This study was an experimental design before and after nonequivalent control group. The participants were 18 suicide attempters(experimental group: 10 persons, control group: 8 persons). Experimental group participated in the individual cognitive behavioral program (8 sessions) for 8 weeks and the control group attended post suicide attempt, case management (8 sessions) for 8 weeks. Data collection was conducted by a structured questionnaire about depression, suicidal ideation, feelings of hopelessness, life satisfaction and expectations, and quality of life. Results: The individual cognitive behavioral program significantly reduced suicidal ideation (t=-2.12, p=.005), depression (t=-5.42, p<.001), and hopelessness (t=-7.59, p<.001) in suicide attempters compared to the usual case management. Conclusion: Our findings provide the valuable support that in suicide attempters, cognitive behavioral program reduces risk of suicidal reattempt via alleviating suicidal ideation, depression, and feeling of hopelessness.