Identification, Response, and Referral of Suicidal Youth Following Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training

Cynthia J. Ewell Foster*, Amanda N. Burnside, Patricia K. Smith, Anne C. Kramer, Allie Wills, Cheryl A. King

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Gatekeeper training is a public health approach to suicide prevention that encourages community members to identify those at risk for suicide, respond appropriately, and refer for clinical services. Despite widespread use, few studies have examined whether training results in behavior change in participants. This study employed a naturalistic pre–post design to follow 434 participants in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training, finding small but significant increases in self-reported identification of at-risk youth, some helpful responses to youth, and numbers of youth referred to treatment from pre-test to 6- to 9-month follow-up. Changes in active listening and helping behaviors meant to support treatment referrals (such as convincing a youth to seek treatment) were not observed over time. Additional analyses explored predictors of self-reported skill utilization including identification as a “natural helper” and attitudes about suicide prevention.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)297-308
Number of pages12
JournalSuicide and Life-Threatening Behavior
Volume47
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2017

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Psychology
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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