National Let’s Talk Online Video Pilot Results

Abstract

Background: Suicide is a leading cause of death for young adults in the United States. Although online messages have emerged as a new vehicle for suicide prevention efforts over the last decade, few have been systematically evaluated. This study examined the effectiveness of two suicide prevention videos – one from a community-based, narrative prevention program (Let’s Talk), and one from an established school-based curriculum (Signs of Suicide) in reducing stigma of help-seeking. Methods: 596 college students recruited from a national online panel by Qualtrics Survey Software were randomly assigned to two interventions and one control group during the 2017-18 school year. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by students in all groups at baseline and approximately 2 weeks after program implementation. Results: 291 students completed both the baseline and follow-up questionnaires (a 49% follow-up rate). Lower rates of self-stigma of seeking help (SSOSH) were observed among students in the SOS intervention group. On average, the mean SSOSH score of the participants in the SOS group decreased 1.76 more than those in control group (P = 0.0474) with 95% confidence interval from 0.02 to 3.50. There was no evidence that the sttudents' race/ethnicity, grade, and gender altered the impact of the intervention on any of the outcomes assessed in this analysis. Conclusion: This study provides preliminary analysis of the intervention, but further evaluations are needed with a larger and more racially and socio-economically diverse sample. SOS continues to be one of the only universal school-based suicide prevention programs to demonstrate significant effects of self-stigma of seeking help in a study utilizing a randomized experimental design.