Technology-Assisted Interventions for Reducing Risk of Suicide: A Meta-Analysis Focused on Suicidal Ideation

Abstract

Background: Suicide is a leading cause of death among adolescents worldwide. Suicide is a complex multifactorial issue and, in 2025, became the third-leading cause of death among individuals aged 15–29. We sought to evaluate the effectiveness of technology-assisted interventions (TIs) in reducing both suicidal behaviour and non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents.

Methods: For this meta-analysis, we searched the EBSCO (APA PsycArticles, APA PsycInfo, MEDLINE, APA PsycTherapy, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection), PubMed and Cochrane databases from inception until May 2025, seeking out articles featuring data (quantitative outcomes related to suicidal ideation or behaviour) on evaluated suicide or self-harm interventions among children and adolescents (aged 13–18) that incorporated digital technologies in some manner. We used random effects meta-analysis to estimate the effect size for suicidal ideation reduction. We assessed heterogeneity using the I2 statistic, and, due to the small number of considered studies, publication bias was assessed using an adaptation of Cochrane’s guidelines for the assessment of bias risk. The review was registered with INPLASY, with the code INPLASY202570073.

Results: After applying the eligibility criteria, six studies were selected for the analysis. Although the initial conceptual aim pertained to suicidal risk and self-harm more broadly, suicidal ideation was the only outcome consistently reported across the eligible studies; therefore, it served as the primary meta-analytic outcome.

Conclusions: The results highlight that technologyassisted interventions yield an overall statistically significant moderate reduction in suicidal ideation, providing valuable support for the implementation of such interventions during adolescence, although further rigorous research is needed to strengthen the evidence base.