A Pilot Evaluation of a Digital Peer Support Intervention for Suicidal Adolescents
ConditionSuicide
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age14-18
SponsorAlbert Einstein College of Medicine
About this trial
Suicide risk has increased among youth in underserved communities, where access to mental healthcare is limited. To address this need, the investigator team plans to evaluate the preliminary efficacy of a brief, low-cost, culturally responsive digital intervention for ethnically diverse youth at risk for suicide in The Bronx, New York. In collaboration with community stakeholders, suicide recovery narratives, featuring adolescents' experiences related to recovery from suicidal thoughts will be developed. A smartphone ecological momentary assessment (EMA) app will be used to evaluate whether a curriculum of these narratives provides anti-suicidal benefits to at-risk adolescents.
Eligibility criteria
This trial does not accept healthy volunteersQualifiers
past-month history of suicidal thoughts
past-month history of Major depressive disorder
possession of apple or android smartphone with data plan
Disqualifiers
inability to read/write in English
Active mania
Active psychosis
Autism spectrum disorder
Trial design
Design model
Single group
Treatments tested in this trial
Supporting Wellbeing with Everyday Experiences of Peers (SWEEP)
BehavioralEach day during a 14-day trial period, participants will receive one narrative featuring lived experience with and recovery from suicidal thoughts and behaviors. These narratives will be presented in audio and text format via a smartphone app. Participants will also complete self-report surveys assessing study outcomes using the same smartphone app five times per day.
Treatment groups
46 Participants
are divided into 1 treatment groupGroup A: InterventionExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Suicidal Thoughts
Participants will self-report their current subjective intensity of suicidal thoughts using an 11-point Likert-type scale, with higher scores indicating more intense suicidal thoughts.
Time frame
5 times per day during 14-day trialSecondary outcomes
1
Suicidal Urge Resistance
Participants will self-report the strength of their current ability to resist suicidal urges using an 11-point Likert-type scale, with higher scores indicating greater ability to resist suicidal urges.
Time frame
5 times per day during 14-day trial2
Social Connectedness
Participants will self-report their current feelings of being connected to other people using an 11-point Likert-type scale, with higher scores indicating feeling more being connected to other people.
Time frame
5 times per day during 14-day trial3
Optimism
Participants will self-report their current of feelings of optimism about the future using an 11-point Likert-type scale, with higher scores indicating greater optimism.
Time frame
5 times per day during 14-day trial4
Social Support
Participants will self-report their current perception of the availability of emotional support from others using an 11-point Likert-type scale, with higher scores indicating the perception greater availability of emotional support from others.
Time frame
5 times per day during 14-day trialOther outcomes
1
Emotions
Participants will self-report the current intensity of 10 emotions: excited, guilty, scared, proud, irritated, ashamed, inspired, nervous, determined, angry. Each emotion will be rated on an 11-point Likert-type scale with higher scores indicating more intense emotion. Each of these items will be evaluated in isolation, as well as in aggregate using arithmetic mean. For aggregating an overall emotion score, the positive emotions excited, proud, inspired, and determined will be reverse-scored to provide an aggregate rating of negative emotion.
Time frame
5 times per day during 14-day trial2
Treatment Readiness
Participants will self-report their current readiness for mental health treatment across 4 items. Participants will rate their motivation for beginning regular mental health services using a 7-point Likert-type scale, with higher scores indicating greater readiness to begin regular services. Participants will rate their anxiety about discussing personal difficulties with a mental health professional using a 7-point Likert-type scale, with higher scores indicating greater anxiety. This item will be reverse coded. Participants will rate how confident they feel that regular mental health services will be helpful using a 7-point Likert-type scale, with higher scores indicating greater confidence. Participants will rate how necessary they feel that regular mental health services are for them using a 7-point Likert-type scale, with higher scores indicating greater feelings of necessity. Each item will be evaluated in isolation and in aggregate using both summation and arithmetic mean score.
Time frame
Baseline (prior to starting the 14-day trail) and study conclusion (at the end of the 14-day trial)Sponsors and contacts
Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Lead sponsor
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Collaborator
Yeshiva University
Collaborator
Ilumivu
Collaborator
Source ClinicalTrials.gov