Family-based interventions in reducing suicide-related behaviours in young people

Clinical approaches to reducing self-harm and suicide-related behaviours in young people
usually focus on the individual young person; however, therapies that involve their family
can also play a role. Traditional family therapy encompasses a broad range of approaches
including structural, strategic, and systemic family therapy. In more recent years, a
range of other therapeutic approaches have incorporated the family into therapy, including
attachment-based therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioural
therapy (DBT), and mentalisation-based therapy. Collectively, we refer to these approaches
as ‘family-based interventions’. This research bulletin summarises the findings from high quality studies that have examined whether family-based interventions are effective in
helping to reduce suicide-related behaviours in young people up to the age of 25 years.