Effectiveness Trial of Youth Suicide Prevention Delivered by Teen Peer Leaders

Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of the school-based Sources of Strength program in reducing suicidal behaviors in the population of high school students and determine how the program works (mechanisms of change). Sources of Strength trains diverse high school students as Peer Leaders, who conduct school-wide prevention messaging activities with ongoing adult mentoring designed to increase positive coping norms and practices, help-seeking and increase youth-adult connections. Sources of Strength is expected to enhance school coping practices, increase help-seeking among distressed and suicidal youth, and reduce the number of students in the population who attempt suicide. A total of 40 high schools in primarily rural and micropolitan regions of New York State and North Dakota will participate in this study that uses a randomized wait-listed design.

Conditions

• Suicide Prevention

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Sources of Strength

Sources of Strength (http://www.sourcesofstrength.com/) has three phases: 1. Introduction to school and community partners. Staff advisors for the program are identified and trained. 2. A standard process is used for nominating student peer leaders, who are trained through a 4-hour interactive workshop. A major focus is on increasing knowledge of 'sources of strength' and skills for increasing use of those resources for themselves and other students. 3. Peer Leaders plan and conduct messaging with Adult Advisor mentoring. A school-wide messaging phase involves presentations; media campaigns through posters, public service announcements, videos.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

  collaborator NIH

• Columbia University

  collaborator OTHER

• Northwestern University

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Southern California

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Rochester

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Peter A Wyman, PhD · University of Rochester

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

13 Years

Max Age

20 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2010-08-31

Primary Completion

2015-06-30

Completion

2016-06-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations