RANDOMIZED TRIAL OF A HOME-BASED FAMILY INTERVENTION FOR CHILDREN WHOHAVE DELIBERATELY POISONED THEMSELVES

Objective: To establish whether an intervention given by child psychia tric social workers to the families of children and adolescents who ha d attempted suicide by taking an overdose reduced the patients' suicid al feelings and improved family functioning. Method: One hundred sixty -two patients, aged 16 or younger, who had deliberately poisoned thems elves were randomly allocated to routine care (n = 77) or routine care plus the intervention (n = 85). The intervention consisted of an asse ssment session and four home visits by the social workers to conduct f amily problem-solving sessions. The control group received no visits. Both groups were assessed at the time of recruitment and 2 and 6 month s later. The primary outcome measures were the Suicidal Ideation Quest ionnaire, the Hopelessness Scale, and the Family Assessment Device. Re sults: There were no significant differences in the primary outcomes b etween the intervention and control groups at either of the outcome as sessments. Parents in the intervention group were more satisfied with treatment (mean difference 1.4 [95% confidence interval 0.6 to 2.1]). A subgroup without major depression had much less suicidal ideation at both outcome assessments (analysis of covariance p < .01) compared wi th controls. Conclusions: The home-based family intervention resulted in reduced suicidal ideation only for patients without major depressio n.