Cognitive Behavior Therapy With and Without Narrative Assessment and Suicide Attempts

In this systematic review and meta-analysis, CBT interventions including a narrative assessment were associated with a reduced risk of suicide attempt, while CBT without this component did not have an association with risk of suicide attempt. Age differences between study populations may partly explain this finding, as interventions in younger populations often show smaller and more inconsistent effect sizes. These results suggest that a narrative assessment may be a simple and effective way to capture the forces that lead to suicide attempts and to direct interventions toward their prevention. Causal conclusions require direct head-to-head trials.