Tool for Sibling and Children of Someone With Suicidal Thoughts

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This study aims to investigate to what extent a website developed for siblings and children (16-25 years old) of someone with suicidal thoughts and/or behaviors is effective in improving perceived pressure, knowledge, attitudes, self-confidence and hopelessness. Moreover, it aims to examine how participants evaluate the website.

Official Title
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A Tool for Siblings and Children of Someone With Suicidal Thoughts and/or Behaviors: Evaluation.

Conditions
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Suicide

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Website (www.mee-leven.be)


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Siblings and children of someone who has suicidal thoughts and/or behavior 16-25 years old Have access to internet Speak Dutch Exclusion Criteria: /

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 16 Years
Maximum Age: 25 Years

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
Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Website (www.mee-leven.be)<br>Participants in this group (all participants) are asked to complete a questionnaire and then receive access to the website during three days, after which they were asked to complete another questionnaire. | Behavioral: Website (www.mee-leven.be)<br>* The tool is a website aimed siblings and children of someone who has suicidal thoughts and/or behaviors. The intended objectives of the tool are 1) to contribute to knowledge about suicide and health care options, 2) to increase perceived competences in dealing with suicidality of a family member, 3) to reduce perceived pressure and negative feelings such as hopelessness and 4) to be accessible and user-friendly. These objectives are achieved by providing the following content: 1) concerning the sibling/child themselves (primary objective) : information about the potential impact of having a suicidal family member, own needs, informal and formal (self) care, dealing with the suicidal family member, dealing with other family members 2) concerning the suicidal family member (Secondary objective): information about the suicidal process, signal recognition, how to provide support/create a safe environment for suicidal loved ones , help available for suicidal relatives<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Changes in self-efficacy: Gatekeeper Self-Efficacy Scale (Takahashi et al., 2020) | The Gatekeeper Self-Efficacy Scale is a 9-item self-report scale to be scored on a 7-point Likert scale (1= not at all to 5 = Extremely) to measure participants' self efficacy in dealing with suicidal individuals. Higher scores indicate higher self-efficacy. | Change from Baseline (before intervention) to post-test (after 3 days of access to website) | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Changes in perceived pressure: Perceived pressure informal care ('Ervaren druk informele zorg', Pot et al., 1995) | The Perceived pressure informal care ('Ervaren druk informele zorg', Pot et al., 1995) scale is a 9-item self-report scale. Participants rate items to be applicable to them with the options: 'No!', 'No', 'More or less', 'Yes', 'Yes!', where 'No' and 'No!' are scored as 0 and the other options as 1. Total scores of 0-3 indicate little pressure, 4-6 moderate and 7-9 a lot. | Change from Baseline (before intervention) to post-test (after 3 days of access to website) | 
| Changes in attitudes: 5 subscales of Attitudes Towards Suicide Scale (Rensberg & Jacobson, 2003; De Clerck et al., 2006) | The ATTS is a 37-item to be scored on a 5-point Likert scale (1= disagree completely to 5 = agree completely) to measure participants' attitudes towards suicide. The included subscales in this study are: incomprehensibility, non-communication, preventability, tabooing, preparedness to prevent | Change from Baseline (before intervention) to post-test (after 3 days of access to website) | 
| Changes in hopelessness: Beck Hopelessness Scale (4-item version; Beck et al., 1974; Aish & Wasserman, 2001) and self-developed questionnaire | The BHS A 4-item self-report questionnaire to measure hopelessness in adolescents and adults. Each item is rated as 'true' (score = 1) or 'false' (score = 0) for them over the past week, resulting in a total score ranging from 0 to 4, with higher scores indicating higher levels of hopelessness. Self-developed questionnaire: 4-item self-report questionnaire to measure hopelessness in relation to the loved one, based on the BHS 4-item version. Each item is rated as 'true' (score = 1) or 'false' (score = 0) for them over the past week, resulting in a total score ranging from 0 to 4, with higher scores indicating higher levels of hopelessness in relation to the loved one. | Change from Baseline (before intervention) to post-test (after 3 days of access to website) | 
| Changes in self-care and awareness | Self-developed questionnaire consisting of 5 statements to be rated on a 5-point Likert scale, with 1=strongly disagree and 5=strongly agree. Higher scores indicate higher levels of self-care and awareness. | Change from Baseline (before intervention) to post-test (after 3 days of access to website) | 
| Evaluation of the website | 18 statements about the content, structure and effect of the website to be rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1= strongly disagree, 5= strongly agree) 4 open questions: Which part of the website benefited you the most and why?; Which part of the website benefited you the least and why?; What can be improved on the website? Would you like to say anything else about the website? Participants were asked to rate the website on a scale of 1-10 | post-test (after 3 days of access to website) |