Interventions for People Who Have Attempted Suicide and Their Family Members: A Systematic Review

Following a suicide attempt, components of aftercare can include efforts to reduce suicidal behavior (i.e., suicide, attempt, or ideation) of a person who has attempted suicide and facilitate the psychosocial adjustment of the patient and their family members. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis of key outcomes was to synthesize the existing evidence on interventions for people who have attempted suicide and their family members. The authors found that aftercare interventions show a statistically significant reduction in further suicide attempts for intervention participants. Studies also reported a reduction in suicide deaths, depression, and hopelessness, but the results are based on limited quality of evidence. The uptake of interventions and treatment retention varied widely by aftercare intervention. The authors could not explore the effects of the intervention target (e.g., participants who attempted suicide versus family members or both) or populations because of the homogeneity of the sample and the lack of studies measuring family member responses. The identified studies did not meaningfully address the effects of interventions on family members because these were rarely included in existing research studies.