Suicidal ideation and attempts following a short-term period of art-based intervention: An experimental investigation

Abstract

The lives of hundreds of Yezidi women and girls were shattered by the horrors of sexual violence and sexual slavery following the attack by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on the Sinjar region of Iraq in 2014. The effectiveness of participation in a two-month art-based intervention on suicide ideation in 14 Kurdish Yezidi females (10–27 years) who survived the ISIS attack was evaluated in a pre and posttest experimental study. The study found that close to half of the females (42.9 %) had past suicidal ideation and attempts after the ISIS invasion. The total score for suicidal ideation decreased substantially from 16.71 to 6.50 (P = 0.002) after completion of creative art-based experience sessions. Participants’ wish to live score increased (P < 0.0001), and their passive and active suicide attempts stopped (P = 0.012 and P = 0.005, respectively). The deterrents to active attempts increased significantly (P = 0.003). However, the participants still did not have strong reasons for living (P = 0.612). The study suggests that participation in creative art-based experience courses is effective to decrease suicidal ideation.