A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Smartphone Delivered Treatment for Suicidal Thoughts and Behavior
Trial statusNot yet recruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18+
SponsorMassachusetts General Hospital
About this trial
This study aims to evaluate the acceptability, safety, and efficacy of a smartphone-delivered intervention called Therapeutic Evaluative Conditioning for Suicide (TEC-S) in reducing suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) among adults with recent and frequent suicide ideation.
Eligibility criteria
This trial does not accept healthy volunteersQualifiers
Adults ages 18+
Relatively frequent and recent (≥5 days within the past-month) active suicidal thoughts as assessed via SITBI-R.
Willing and able to provide at least one emergency contact (name, phone number, relation).
Owns an Android or iOS smartphone.
Disqualifiers
Recent (past 3-month) hypo/manic symptoms or homicidal ideation or lifetime psychosis spectrum diagnosis as assessed via MINI 7.0.2.
At any time in past week: ≥ 8/10 current intent to act on suicidal thoughts (0 ["not at all"] to 10 ["extremely strong"]); AND
At any time in past week: thought of a specific suicide plan (i.e, known method/means and/or location) with access to lethal means
Impaired vision (e.g., legal blindness), technological illiteracy, or intellectual disability that might impair ability to provide valid data and/or informed consent.
Trial design
Design model
Parallel
Treatments tested in this trial
Smartphone-delivered Therapeutic Evaluative Conditioning for Suicide (TEC-S)
BehavioralTherapeutic Evaluative Conditioning for Suicide (active TEC-S) is a behavioral treatment where participants are given optional access to a computerized task/game where they repeatedly pair suicidal behavior stimuli (pictures, words) with other negative stimuli and self-related stimuli with positive stimuli.
Smartphone-delivered inactive Therapeutic Evaluative Conditioning
BehavioralTherapeutic Evaluative Conditioning (inactive TEC-S) is a behavioral treatment where participants are given optional access to a computerized task/game where they repeatedly pair positive and negative stimuli (pictures, words) with each other.
Treatment groups
60 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groupsGroup A: Smartphone-delivered inactive Therapeutic Evaluative Conditioning (inactive TEC)Placebo comparator 1 intervention
Group B: Smartphone-delivered active Therapeutic Evaluative Conditioning for Suicide (active TEC)Experimental treatment 1 intervention
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Desire to die by suicide (Likert)
Right now, how strongly do you want to kill yourself? \[0 (not at all) to 10 (extremely)\]; assessed via 3x/day ecological momentary assessment (Kleiman et al., 2018)
Time frame
Through completion of treatment phase (day 1 through 30)Secondary outcomes
1
Suicide intent (Likert)
Right now, how strong is your intention to kill yourself today? \[0 (I am definitely not going to kill myself today) to 10 (I am definitely going to kill myself today)\]; assessed via 3x/day ecological momentary assessment
Time frame
Through completion of treatment phase (day 1 through 30)2
Suicide urge (Likert)
Right now, how strong is your urge to kill yourself \[0 (not at all) to 10 (very strong)\]; assessed via 3x/day ecological momentary assessment.
Time frame
Through completion of treatment phase (day 1 through 30)3
Suicide thought incidence
Since the last survey, have you had suicidal thoughts? (yes/no); assessed daily via ecological momentary assessment
Time frame
Through treatment phase completed (day 1 through 30)4
Suicide planning incidence
Since the last survey, have you made a plan to kill yourself? (yes/no); assessed daily via ecological momentary assessment
Time frame
Through completion of treatment phase (day 1 through 30)Sponsors and contacts
Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.
Massachusetts General Hospital
Lead sponsor
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Collaborator
Source ClinicalTrials.gov
This trial is not recruiting at the moment. You can still explore other options: