Evaluation of a School-Based Training Program for Suicide Prevention

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This study will determine whether a training program designed to help school staff members identify adolescents at risk for suicide will increase the number of students who are referred to mental health services.

Detailed Description
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The rate of suicide among adolescents has significantly increased in recent years. Psychiatric disorders are often associated with increased suicide risk; therefore, the ability to identify adolescents with signs of depression and other psychiatric conditions is clear. This study will determine the effectiveness of a suicide prevention training program called Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) in increasing the number of potentially suicidal adolescents who are referred to mental health services. The training is designed to help school staff recognize signs that a student may be suicidal, provide tips on how to question students about any suicidal thoughts they may have, and provide techniques to persuade students to seek suicide prevention help. School staff will be randomly assigned to either receive QPR training for 2 years starting immediately or be placed on a waiting list for later training. The rates of referral to the school district's prevention/intervention centers will be used to assess the effectiveness of QPR training. In addition, the impact of QPR training on school staff members' knowledge and attitudes about intervening with at-risk students will be assessed through surveys at four time points over the 2-year study duration with a randomly selected portion of staff in the 32 participating schools. Surveys completed by randomly selected 8th and 10th grade students will also be used to determine whether the intervention is effective in reducing suicidal thoughts or attempts. Study hypothesis: More students in schools that have Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR)-trained staff will be referred for a mental health evaluation than in schools without QPR-trained staff.

Official Title
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RCT of Gatekeeper Training for Suicide Prevention

Conditions
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Suicide

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) training


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria for School Staff Members: Currently working as a staff member in Cobb County school district Inclusion Criteria for Students: Parent or guardian willing to provide informed consent
Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Intervention/Treatment |
| --- |
|Behavioral: Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) training|nan|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Rates of referrals for students identified as suicidal risks |  |  | 
| school staff knowledge and attitudes |  |  | 
| outcomes of mental health evaluations for accurate detection of suicidal risk |  |  | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Suicide Prevention, Depression, Adolescent, Students, School Teachers