Personality Disorders and Psychopathology · Journal article

The Effect of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy-Based Psychoeducation on Suicide Risk and Social Functioning in Patients with Depression

Journal of Rational-emotive & Cognitive-behavior Therapy · September 1, 2026

Promising Why this matters to you Expert discussion

Encouraging direction, but not yet definitive.

AI Summary

This single-centre pre-test/post-test RCT compared 8 sessions of CBT-based psychoeducation to no intervention in 100 depressed patients, finding statistically significant reductions in suicide probability and improvements in social functioning on validated scales in the intervention group. The evidence is limited by small sample size, single centre, surrogate endpoints, lack of blinding, and absence of hard clinical outcomes such as suicide attempts or completion.

What was studied

Randomized controlled trial, pre-test/post-test with control group, single-centre. Patients with depression attending psychiatry clinic of XXXX University Hospital; no specific eligibility criteria, severity thresholds, or baseline characteristics reported.. Intervention: 8 sessions of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy-based psychoeducation. Compared with: No intervention (control group). n = 100. Psychiatry clinic of XXXX University Hospital; country and specific location not stated..

Key findings

Suicide probability score post-intervention: 88.72 ± 18.50 (intervention) vs 94.98 ± 18.92 (control) Social functioning score post-intervention: 62.40 ± 8.86 (intervention) vs 51.74 ± 8.18 (control) Statistical significance achieved on both suicide probability and social functioning (p < 0.05)

Safety

Safety was not reported in the material analysed. Check the source before drawing any conclusion about harm.

Who this may help

This result suggests CBT-based psychoeducation may reduce suicide probability and improve social functioning in depressed patients, but the surrogate endpoints and single-centre design mean the evidence is not yet strong enough to guide clinical practice without confirmation from larger, multi-centre trials with hard outcomes.

Plain-language summary

A single-centre RCT with modest sample size (n=100) and surrogate endpoints (suicide probability scale, social functioning scale) showing statistically significant between-group differences, but lacking hard clinical outcomes and generalizability data.

Study design

As stated by the source record.

MethodsPatients with depression were randomised to 8 sessions of CBT-based psychoeducation (n=50) or no intervention (n=50). Data collected at pre-test and post-test using Descriptive Information Form, Suicide Probability Scale, and Social Adaptation Self-Evaluation Scale. Analysis compared post-test scores between groups; statistical significance assessed at p < 0.05 level.

DesignRandomized controlled trial, pre-test/post-test with control group, single-centre

PopulationPatients with depression attending psychiatry clinic of XXXX University Hospital; no specific eligibility criteria, severity thresholds, or baseline characteristics reported.

Sample size100

Intervention8 sessions of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy-based psychoeducation

ComparatorNo intervention (control group)

SettingPsychiatry clinic of XXXX University Hospital; country and specific location not stated.

Reported figures

Quoted from the source exactly as published.

Sample size100

Intervention group (n)50

Control group (n)50

Suicide probability (intervention, post)88.72 ± 18.50

Suicide probability (control, post)94.98 ± 18.92

Social functioning (intervention, post)62.40 ± 8.86

Social functioning (control, post)51.74 ± 8.18

p-value< 0.05

Clinical bottom line

Caveats

Surrogate endpoints only; no data on actual suicide attempts, hospitalisations, or other hard clinical outcomes.
Single centre; generalisability to other settings and populations unclear.
No blinding, allocation concealment, or loss-to-follow-up reported; risk of selection and attrition bias unspecified.
No pre-intervention baseline scores reported for comparison; no sample size justification or power analysis provided.

Evidence assessment

Graded across the dimensions that decide whether you should act, each from what the source actually supports. There is no single score, and where a dimension was not assessed it says so.

Study design

moderate

Pre-test/post-test RCT with control group; design is appropriate but single-centre limits generalisability.

Directness

moderate

Surrogate endpoints (suicide probability scale, social functioning scale) used; no hard clinical outcomes reported.

Consistency

insufficient

Single study; no comparison to other trials or meta-analysis provided.

Risk of bias

limited

No mention of blinding, allocation concealment, or loss to follow-up; control group received no intervention.

Sample adequacy

limited

n=100 total (50 per arm) modest; no sample size calculation or power analysis reported.

Source abstract

This study was conducted to determine the effect of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)-based psychoeducation on suicide risk and social functioning in patients with depression. The study was conducted with 100 patients with depression (50 intervention, 50 control) in the psychiatry clinic of XXXX University Hospital as a pre-test and post-test with control group experimental research. Data were collected by using Descriptive Information Form, Suicide Probability Scale (SPS) and Social Adaptation Self-Evaluation Scale. Patients with depression in the intervention group received 8 sessions of CBT-based psychoeducation, while no intervention was administered to patients with depression in the control group. After CBT-based psychoeducation, the suicide probability level (88.72 ± 18.50) of patients with depression in the experimental group decreased compared to the suicide probability level (94.98 ± 18.92) of patients with depression in the control group, and the social functioning level (62.40 ± 8.86) increased compared to the social functioning level (51.74 ± 8.18) of patients with depression in the control group. In the study, it was found that CBT-based psychoeducation made a statistically significant difference ( p < 0.05) on the suicide probability and social functioning levels of patients with depression in the experimental group. CBT-based psychoeducation provided to patients with depression was found to be effective in reducing the suicide risk level and increasing the level of social functioning in these patients.

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