The effectiveness of meaning-based interventions in reducing suicide-related vulnerability: A systematic review.
Tae Kyun Gwon, Hyun Ok Jung
✦ AI-curated · Sources linked
In 30 seconds
This systematic review examined whether meaning-based interventions affect suicide-related outcomes and how their effects may operate. It included 10 studies: 7 randomized controlled trials, 2 quasi-experimental studies, and 1 secondary analysis. Across heterogeneous populations, interventions most consistently improved existential outcomes, including meaning in life, spiritual well-being, and quality of life. Hopelessness, demoralization, and suicidal ideation generally decreased, but effects varied across studies. The review found patterns suggesting that improvements in existential resources co-occurred with reductions in emotional and suicide-related outcomes; it did not establish these as causal pathways.
Key findings
- The review included 10 studies: 7 randomized controlled trials, 2 quasi-experimental studies, and 1 secondary analysis.
- Meaning in life, spiritual well-being, and quality of life were the outcomes most consistently improved.
- Hopelessness, demoralization, and suicidal ideation generally decreased, although effects varied across studies.
- Most studies showed indirect-pathway patterns, with existential improvements co-occurring with reductions in emotional and suicide-related outcomes.
Why it matters
The findings suggest that suicide-prevention approaches may benefit from addressing existential resources alongside symptoms. Meaning-based interventions were associated with improvements in outcomes relevant to vulnerability, but the varied results and proposed indirect pathways warrant caution. Better understanding whether existential changes precede and contribute to reductions in suicide-related outcomes could help clarify how these approaches might complement prevention strategies.
What to keep in mind
Studies varied in populations, interventions, and outcomes, requiring narrative synthesis; effects were heterogeneous. The review identifies a need for longitudinal and mediation-based studies to examine causal mechanisms.