Preliminary effectiveness of an online-mediated competency-based suicide prevention training program.

Abstract

There has been a proliferation of online suicide prevention training for mental health service providers. The present study evaluated the preliminary effectiveness of a web-mediated suicide prevention training program for an interdisciplinary set of mental health service providers. This pilot training project also advanced the literature by evaluating a suicide-related individual difference: the provider's need for affect (NFA). Participant NFA was evaluated as a moderator of training effectiveness. Predictors of intent to utilize training content were also identified. Mental health professionals (n ϭ 43; 18.0% response rate; majority psychologists) completed the training program. The intervention consisted of a 12-module self-paced didactic and case study-based training. Training demonstrated meaningfully sized gains in suicide prevention knowledge, perceived skills/abilities, accuracy in suicide risk judgments, and reduction in negative feelings toward patients. NFA moderated several training gains. In general, participants willing to engage emotional content benefited more from training than affectively avoidant counterparts. Posttraining self-rated suicide prevention skills and confidence in training predicted intent to use training content. The training program requires further testing, but may offer a comprehensive, user-friendly CE training program for mental health service providers. NFA findings suggest potential to tailor future training, or to identify individual differences that may need to be accounted for in clinical training and supervision. Predictors of intent to use training content are consistent with theories of health promotion. Limitations are discussed. Public Significance StatementMental health professionals, the majority of whom were psychologists, benefited from the self-paced online suicide prevention program. Findings are important because they support use of a highly accessible, evidence-informed approach to bolstering mental health professionals' abilities to work with persons experiencing suicidal ideation and behavior.

The core competency model for corrections: An education program for managing self-directed violence in correctional institutions.

“…As such, educational programming should specifically address the assessment of SDV-specific elements such as SDV ideation, as well as suicidal intent, plan, and preparation. This can be accomplished through provision of a continuum of self-injury to suicidal intent, planning, and preparation used in the original CCM (e.g., Cramer et al, 2019). Integration of Competency 1 terminology and decision tree support tools can reinforce coverage of the full spectrum of previous and current SDV.…”

“…Yet, there persists a strong debate on whether online and in-person educational modalities are equally effective (e.g., Alvarez & Domenech Rodríguez, 2020). The original CCM is no exception, as studies have examined in-person (e.g., Cramer et al, 2016; La Guardia et al, 2019; Hager et al, 2021) and online (e.g., Cramer, Bryson, et al, 2017a, 2019) versions of the program. The CCM for Corrections curriculum we outline here is intended for direct, in-person learning.…”

Paraprofessional Youth Mentoring: A Framework for Integrating Youth Mentoring with Helping Institutions and Professions

“…Paraprofessionals can be trained to competently deliver evidence-based psychological interventions, particularly those that are highly structured and manualized (Cramer et al, 2019;Durlak, 1979;Montgomery et al, 2010). As discussed above, direct service provision by paraprofessionals requires development of protocols, training, and supervision, as well as research establishing efficacy and effectiveness in real-world practice.…”

“…For example, the counseling approach Motivational Interviewing has several measures of provider competence that are performancebased (i.e., verbal behavior measured in actual or simulated counseling sessions) and that provide valid and reliable estimates of skill, thresholds for competence, and research supporting the validity of these measures in predicting client outcomes (Magill et al, 2019;Martino et al, 2016;Moyers et al, 2016). Similarly, there are well-established measures of suicide risk assessment and prevention competencies that are capable of measuring the transfer of skill from training programs, include multiinformant measures of skill, and are related to core outcomes, such as the ability to make accurate suicide risk judgments (Cramer et al, 2019). Such measures of competency, and corresponding trainings designed to promote competency, will be crucial for realizing the potential of paraprofessional mentors.…”

Enhancing suicide prevention outreach via mobile‐enabled website design

“…National surveys show that the Internet is the primary source of health information for over 70% of adults in the United States (Prestin et al, 2015). A number of approaches to suicide prevention utilize the Internet, including online screening for suicide risk (King et al, 2015), online support forums for individuals struggling with suicide behaviors (Mokkenstorm et al, in press), online platforms for suicide awareness (Chen et al, 2019), and training programs for mental health providers (Cramer et al, 2019). Social media platforms have been identified as a significant method for suicide prevention outreach to populations that otherwise may be difficult to engage (Robinson et al, 2015).…”