The Effect of a Logotherapy-Based Program on Distress Tolerance in Patients with a History of Attempted Suicide

Suicide is one of the global problems of public health, which is usually attempted at critical times, impulsively. Besides the main approaches to managing suicidal thoughts, cognitive behavioral therapy and logotherapy could also be used. literature review showed that no study had examined the effect of logotherapy on patients with a history of attempted suicide. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effect of a logotherapy-based program on distress tolerance in attempted suicide patients in 2023.

The present study was a three-stage (before, immediately, and 1 month after) controlled clinical trial, which was conducted on 70 attempted suicide patients who were hospitalized at Farabi and Khorshid hospitals of Isfahan, Iran, during 2023. Participants were selected using simple sampling and randomly allocated into control and intervention groups, each containing 35 participants. Six sessions of logotherapy-based program were held for the intervention group, three times per week. Data gathering tools were demographic characteristics form and Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS). Data were analyzed using SPSS 16 and descriptive and inferential statistics.

A significant Time × Group interaction emerged (F (1.41, 95.80) = 307.46, p < 0.001). Post-hoc tests confirmed significant increases in distress tolerance from baseline to post-test and follow-up in the intervention group (both p < 0.001), with no significant changes in the control group.

Considering the effect of the logotherapy-based program on the improvement of distress tolerance in attempted suicide patients, it is recommended that logotherapy be used for the treatment of these patients.