The impact of a parent psychoeducation group on treatment outcomes of suicidal young people

Background: Suicide continues to be the lead cause of death for Australian young people aged 15-24 years. This is alarming given adolescence is often seen as the time which reflects the most productive, social, and positive years of life. Research on effective interventions for adolescent suicide has recommended a focus on improving protective factors against suicide, including education to parents about effective parental support and monitoring. Aim: To assess the relationship between a single session parent psychoeducation session on specific clinical outcomes of psychological distress, hopelessness, non-suicidal self-injury, thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and suicidal ideation and planning in young people accessing short term psychological support for suicide risk. Method: Baseline and final session data of clinical outcome measures of 182 young people aged 12 to 25 years (M = 16) who were participating in an individual intervention for suicide risk. Data from 34 young people (27 females; 7 males) who had one or more parent attend a single-session psychoeducation group was compared with 148 young people (107 females; 41 males) whose parent did not attend the group. Results: Findings indicated a decrease in youth-reported frequency of non-suicidal self-injury across the intervention was associated with parent attendance in the group. Limitations: Significant limitations of the current study were due to the data being collected from a clinical setting. Group allocation was not randomised, rather was based on whether parents accepted an invitation to attend the group. Due to this no conclusions of causation could be made. Conclusions: Findings provide preliminary support for the importance of including parental psychoeducation in the individual treatment of young people accessing support for suicide risk.