Safer Still Intervention for Suicide Prevention

Recruiting in Palo Alto (17 mi)

Overseen byJack Stevens, Ph.D.

Age: 18+

Sex: Any

Travel: May Be Covered

Time Reimbursement: Varies

Trial Phase: Academic

Waitlist Available

Sponsor: Jeff Bridge

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Trial Summary

What is the purpose of this trial?

Our long-term goal is to decrease suicide and suicidal behaviors in at-risk youth through preventative interventions. We propose to develop an interactive intervention ("Safer Still") to help promote safe storage of firearms during the critical period immediately following high-risk care transitions. The objective of this study is to develop and test the Safer Still intervention as an efficient adjunct to traditional care for adolescents aged 12-17 years who are discharged from psychiatric hospitals and living in households where firearms are stored unsafely.

Research Team

Jeff Bridge

Principal Investigator

Nationwide Children's Hospital

Jack Stevens, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator

Nationwide Children's Hospital

Eligibility Criteria

This trial is for adolescents aged 12-17 who have been discharged from psychiatric hospitals and live in homes with unsafely stored firearms. It aims to prevent suicide by promoting safe firearm storage.

Inclusion Criteria

Participants' child must be receiving inpatient, crisis, or emergency treatment on the CAPI or YCSU Nationwide Children's Hospital

Participants must indicate that at least one firearm is located in or around the residence of the adolescent and is stored unlocked, loaded, or both unlocked and loaded

I am the only one in my household joining this study.

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Exclusion Criteria

Participants will be excluded for inability to speak/read English

Participants will be excluded for lacking access to a digital device (smartphone, iPad, tablet computer, desktop, laptop PC)

Treatment Details

Interventions

Safer Still (Behavioral Intervention)

Trial OverviewThe 'Safer Still' interactive intervention, designed to encourage secure firearm storage post-hospital discharge, is being tested alongside Enhanced Usual Care (EUC) as a potential method for reducing suicidal behaviors in at-risk youth.

Participant Groups

2Treatment groups

Experimental Treatment

Placebo Group

Group I: Safer Still InterventionExperimental Treatment1 Intervention

First, we will present parents with suggested alternatives for restricting lethal means, particularly firearms and medications with high toxicity in overdose. We will present multiple options for restricting access as opposed to just one alternative that may be deemed unreasonable by a family. We will generate these options based upon the expertise of our lethal means consultant. Second, our mobile technology platform will provide weekly prompts about means restriction. Parents who have not restricted access to lethal means will be asked to document their reasons for inaction-a justification for not following safe storage practices. Third, our mobile technology platform will provide descriptive normative data (peer comparisons) regarding means restriction to those who have not secured these items. For example, parents will be given information that most other families of adolescents with significant emotional concerns do not have firearms or have utilized gun safety precautions.

Group II: Enhanced Usual Care (EUC)Placebo Group1 Intervention

Families randomly assigned to the control condition will receive a psychological placebo that will feature an education only website developed by NCH's web design team. This website will cover warning signs for suicide, the leading methods of suicide - so that both conditions have content that features information about firearms - and locating professional help. Like the intervention Safer Still web-based program, the control website will be branded with a Nationwide Children's Hospital affiliation, as opposed to an outside organization that will be less familiar to our central Ohio sample. The control website will NOT feature these three behavioral economic strategies--namely (a) multiple suggested alternatives for means restriction, (b) requests to justify inaction regarding means restriction, and (c) normative feedback about means restriction.