Development of A Meaning-Based Suicide Prevention Package and its Effect on Life Expectancy, Negative Spontaneous Thoughts and Suicidal Ideation of Female Students of Yasuj University of Medical Sciences in 2020

Suicide is one of the most important psychological crises that health professionals may face in their workplace. One of the causes of suicide is depression, which requires medical and psychological treatments. One of the important approaches in this regard is the meaning therapy approach. The aim of the present study was to determine and compile a package of suicide prevention interventions based on the meaning of therapy and its effect on life expectancy, negative spontaneous thoughts and suicidal ideation of female students.

The present quasi-experimental study with pre-test-post-test design was conducted in 2020. After reviewing the scientific and written sources, a semi-structured interview was conducted with 10 psychologists to develop an educational package. The content validity of the package based on Lavasheh index is 0.94. In the second phase of the study, a package of intervention based on meaning therapy was developed in 10 sessions. In this section, from 18 to 25 years old students of Yasuj University of Medical Sciences, 40 people were selected using the available method and randomly divided into two groups (experimental and control groups). The research instruments included Schneider Hope Scale, ATQ Negative Spontaneous Thought Scale and Beck Suicide Thought Scale. Based on the components extracted from scientific texts and interviews with psychologists, the package includes: Components of suicide drive (emptiness and aimlessness - a sense of self-harm), suicide prevention (meaning of life - suffering - freedom - responsibility) and excellence in life (love - work - spirituality and thoughtlessness) during 10 hours of training given. The collected data were analyzed using Levin statistical tests and analysis of variance and Wilkes lambda.

Findings indicate that the package based on meaning therapy is effective in increasing life expectancy and reducing negative spontaneous thoughts and has not been significant in reducing suicidal ideation (P = 0.0001). The intervention method has a significant effect on the total score of hope (F = 83.66 and Sig = 0.0001) and has a significant effect on the total score of negative thoughts (F = 49.01 and Sig = 0.0001). Regarding the effect of treatment on suicidal ideation, it did not have a significant effect on the total score of suicidal ideation (F = 1.63 and Sig = 0.20) and according to the results, Eta squared could only explain 6% of the variance of suicidal ideation.

Due to the effectiveness of the package developed based on meaning therapy on reducing negative thoughts and increasing the level of hope, therefore, teaching this package to increase knowledge and empower students against depression and its components is recommended.