The Effects of the Family Bereavement Program to Reduce Suicide Ideation and/or Attempts of Parentally Bereaved Children Six and Fifteen Years Later

Abstract

This paper presents findings concerning the long-term effects of the Family Bereavement Program (FBP) to reduce suicide ideation and/or attempts of parentally bereaved children and adolescents. Parental death is a significant risk factor for suicide among offspring (Guldin et al., 2015). The study is a long-term follow-up of 244 children and adolescents who had participated in a randomized trial of the FBP, examining the intervention effects on suicide ideation and/or attempts as assessed through multiple sources. Results indicated a significant effect of the FBP to reduce suicide ideation and/or attempts at the six- and fifteen- year follow-up evaluation. The findings support the potential benefits of further research on “upstream” suicide prevention.

Annual Research Review: Suicide among youth – epidemiology, (potential) etiology, and treatment

“…parental loss, parent-child acculturation gaps, military deployment) with the aim to prevent substance abuse, internalizing, and externalizing disorders have also been evaluated for their impact on suicidal thoughts and behaviors (e.g. Connell, McKillop, & Dishion, 2016;Gewirtz, DeGarmo, & Zamir, 2016;Sandler, Tein, Wolchik, & Ayers, 2016;Vidot et al, 2016). RCTs testing the long-term effects of the Family Check-Up and the Family Bereavement interventions evidenced reductions in a composite score of suicide ideation and behavior in youth at follow-up, up to 10 and 15 years after delivery of the intervention (Connell et al, 2016;Sandler et al, 2016).…”

“…Connell, McKillop, & Dishion, 2016;Gewirtz, DeGarmo, & Zamir, 2016;Sandler, Tein, Wolchik, & Ayers, 2016;Vidot et al, 2016). RCTs testing the long-term effects of the Family Check-Up and the Family Bereavement interventions evidenced reductions in a composite score of suicide ideation and behavior in youth at follow-up, up to 10 and 15 years after delivery of the intervention (Connell et al, 2016;Sandler et al, 2016). Important avenues remain for future study of the long-term effects of family-based prevention programs on youth suicidal thoughts and behaviors.…”

Childhood close family relationships and health.

“…With intervention work being one of the only ways that causality can be established between childhood family relationships and health, additional future research is needed testing the potential health effects of other effective parenting programs, such as the Family Check-Up Program (Connell, Dishion, Yasui, & Kavanagh, 2007), the Triple P program (Positive Parenting Program) (Sanders, 2012), and the Incredible Years program (Webster-Stratton, 2005). In addition, prevention programs designed to promote coping in children of divorce (Luecken et al, 2015) and to help children navigate the loss of a parent (Sandler, Tien, & Ayers, 2016) could also potentially confer health benefits.…”

Prevention Programs to Augment Family and Child Resilience Can Have Lasting Effects on Suicidal Risk

“…The Family Bereavement Program (FBP; Sandler, Tein, Wolchik, & Ayers, , this issue) is designed for parentally bereaved youth and the surviving parent. It consists of two parallel, 12‐week group trainings, one for parents and one for youth.…”