An acceptance and commitment therapy approach to adolescent suicide.
Abstract
Approximately 4,600 American adolescents commit suicide each year, and adolescent suicide rates are on the rise. The consequences of suicidal behavior are far-reaching, and understanding the development of patterns that contribute to ideation and attempt are crucial to prevention and intervention. This paper outlines an experiential avoidance model of suicidality and discusses an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) approach to treating adolescent suicidal behavior. A case study is reviewed, along with literature relevant to the risk factors and trajectories correlated with suicide in adolescents. Although recent evidence indicates that ACT is generally useful with adolescents with related concerns, a thorough literature review indicates that no specific work has investigated the efficacy of ACT for suicidal behavior in youth.
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The application of ACT to suicidal adolescents has not been well studied.
“The application of ACT to suicidal adolescents has not been well studied (Murrell, Al-Jabari, Moyer, Novamo, & Connally, 2014;Tighe, Nicholas, Shand, & Christensen, 2018) though there is emerging data on the feasibility and efficacy of ACT-based interventions with psychiatrically hospitalized adults (e.g.Barnes et al., 2021) in reducing suicidality by infusing ACT principles into safety planning.”
From The rapid stabilization pathway: impact of a brief inpatient intervention on the length of stay and readmissions among psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents (2023) · cites this paper as Murrell, Al-Jabari, Moyer, Novamo, & Connally, 2014
Some authors have proposed that ACT treatment has the potential to be an effective intervention for suicidal individuals.
“Given that some authors have proposed that ACT treatment has the potential to be an effective intervention for suicidal individuals [22,23], the available evidence must be reviewed.”
From Efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy in reducing suicidal ideation and deliberate self-harm: Systematic review (2018) · cites this paper as [23]
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- Authors
- Murrell, A. R., Al-Jabari, R., Moyer, D., Novamo, E., & Connally, M. L.
- Affiliations
- University of North Texas (US)
- ORCID
- Moyer, Danielle
- Venue
- International Journal of Behavioral Consultation and Therapy
- Published
- 2014
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 41-46
- ISSN
- 1555-7855 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2188225869
- Cited by
- 12
- References
- 70
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Behavioral Consultation and Therapy (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
- Keywords
- acceptance and commitment therapy, adolescent suicide, suicidality, experiential avoidance, suicide prevention, suicide risk factors, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts
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