Comparison of Lethal Means Counseling and an Active Control Condition, With and Without Provision of Gun Locks

Summary

In 2013, the National Guard reported a suicide rate that was substantially higher than both the general population and the active duty component of the United States military. The prototypical National Guard suicide decedent appears to be a young male firearm owner not currently deployed who dies using his own gun. Prior research within the military has revealed that soldiers are unlikely to seek out or engage in mental health services. In sum, current best practices in suicide risk assessment are poorly equipped to identify the individuals most likely to die by suicide. This study aims to examine the acceptability, feasibility, and utility of a single lethal means counseling session as part of a suicide prevention approach targeting demographic groups overrepresented in National Guard firearm suicides. 232 firearm-owning National Guard personnel will be randomized to one of four conditions, each of which requires a single 15-25 minute session: (1) lethal means counseling (2) lethal means counseling plus the provision of free gun locks (3) health and stress control condition (4) health and stress control condition plus the provision of free gun locks. The investigators anticipate that those who receive lethal means counseling will subsequently store their personal firearms more safely and report being more willing to store their firearms away from the home during any hypothetical future suicidal crisis. The overarching goal of each hypothesis is to examine the extent to which gun owning young male National Guard personnel at varying levels of suicide risk are willing to engage in means safety.

Conditions

• Intentional Self-Harm by Other Specified Means

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Lethal Means Counseling

Single session motivational interviewing based interaction aimed to increase the safe storage of firearms in an effort to reduce suicide risk.

BEHAVIORAL

Health and Stress Reduction

Single session motivational interviewing based interaction aimed to reduce vulnerability to negative outcomes across four domains: sleep, diet, exercise, and stress.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Utah

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Southern Mississippi

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Michael D Anestis, PhD · Rutgers University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

60 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-06-01

Primary Completion

2020-07-14

Completion

2020-07-14

Countries

• United States

Study Locations