Youth Suicide Prevention: A Survey of Public School Superintendents' Acceptability of School‐Based Programs

Abstract

From a random sample of members of the 2000-2001 membership directory of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), public school administrators' acceptability ratings of three school-based programs for the prevention of adolescent suicide were examined. A total of 210 (46%) respondents examined a description of a suicide prevention program and completed a measure designed to evaluate the acceptability of suicide prevention programs. Three suicide prevention programs were evaluated for their acceptability, and included: (a) school-wide curriculum-based programs presented to students; (b) in-service presentations to school staff; and (c) self-report screening programs for students. The results indicated that superintendents rated the staff in-service training and curriculum-based programs as significantly more acceptable than the school-wide screening program. In addition, the school-wide screening program was rated as significantly more intrusive by school psychologists than the staff in-service training or curriculum-based prevention programs. Limitations of the study and future research directions are discussed.

Gatekeeper-modellen i skolen - erfaringer fra et pilotprosjekt om selvmordsforebygging

“…Fagpersonell som får kurs og opplaering i å inneha og betjene en portvaktfunksjon som førstehjelper, støtte-person, eller voksenkontakt for barn og unge bidrar til økt elevtrygghet (Mann et al, 2005;Scherff, Eckert & Miller, 2005). Generell kunnskap om psykiske vansker som angst og depresjon, personlig og profesjonell erfaring som kan bidra til økt trygghet i rollen, bevissthet om egne holdninger til selvmord samt indre motivasjon for å hjelpe, blir alle vurdert som relevante kvaliteter for å inneha en slik funksjon (King & Smith, 2000).…”

“…Kompetansehevende tiltak om selvmordsforebygging rettet mot befolkningsgrupper generelt vektlegger ofte kunnskap om epidemiologi, risikofaktorer, faresignaler og vurderingskriterier (Scherff et al, 2005). I denne studien har vi imidlertid erfart at praksisbasert kunnskap og kompetanse utgjør verdifull hjelp som kan nå målgruppen raskt.…”

Characteristics and Effects of Suicide Prevention Programs: Comparison between Workplace and Other Settings

“…• Education and training of individuals: providing education and training for students [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] , increasing self efficacy among students 35) • Development of a support network: Development a support network among students 23,36,37) • Cooperation from internal and external resources:…”

“…encouraging cooperation with service facilities and community resources 19,20,29,33,[38][39][40] • Education and training of managers and staff: providing education and training for teachers [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] • S c re e n i n g a…”

“…als 18,22,28,31,32,[41][42][43] • Improvement of building structures 26) The characteristic contents of suicide prevention programs at school consisted of conducting suicide prevention programs while considering socio-cultural backgrounds [44][45][46] ; conducting a school-wide curriculumbased program on suicide prevention 28,47) ; educating and informing parents 27,38) .…”