Peer to Peer Programs for Military Suicide Prevention

Last updated on July 2021

Recruitment

Recruitment Status: Recruiting
Estimated Enrollment: Same as current

Summary

Conditions: Suicide
Type: Interventional
Phase: Not Applicable
Design: Allocation: RandomizedIntervention Model: Parallel AssignmentIntervention Model Description: The study design entails a dynamic wait list design in which participants are randomly assigned to either the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) program or a wait list control condition. Randomization will be conducted at the squadron level using a computerized randomization algorithm. The proposed dynamic wait list design differs primarily from the traditional wait list designs with respect to timing of intervention. In the traditional wait list design, half of the squadrons (i.e., N/2) would be randomized to implement the P2P program early in the study and the remaining half would implement the P2P program later in the study. By contrast, the dynamic wait list randomizes the timing of the intervention over the entire course of the study period by first dividing the overall study period into m equal time blocks, and then randomizing N/m squadrons to receive the P2P program during each time block.Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)Masking Description: Data analyses will be conducted by a quantitative psychology postdoctoral fellow under the supervision of Dr. Brian Baucom, PhD, at The University of Utah, and Kent Corso, PsyD, BCBA-D, at Xcelerate Innovations. Dr. Baucom serves on the University of Utah's Department of Psychology's Statistical Consulting Service, and has prior experience with clinical trial methodology and military research. Dr. Corso is a certified behavior analyst with extensive experience using single case design methodology and applying this approach to military settings. None of the data analysts will be involved in data collection procedures, and will remain therefore blind to treatment assignment. Prior to statistical analyses, data will be screened to identify distributional properties.Primary Purpose: Prevention

Participation Requirements

Age: Between 18 years and 125 years
Gender: Both males and females

Description

Suicides among military personnel doubled from 2001 to 2015 and have remained elevated. Although new treatments and interventions have been shown to reduce the occurrence of suicidal behavior, they are predominantly available only in mental health clinics. Data indicates that the large majority of military personnel who die by suicide do not access mental healthcare services in the months preceding their deaths. New strategies that are based on these empirically-supported interventions but can be delivered outside the mental healthcare system, thereby reaching a larger proportion of the military community, are therefore needed. Peer to peer (P2P) support programs hold promise as a method for achieving these aims, but the evidence supporting this intervention model remains limited or, in the case of suicide prevention, absent. In light of this gap, the proposed project aims to test the efficacy of a P2P program for the reduction of suicidal behaviors among military personnel. The proposed P2P program, called Airman's Edge, is a hybrid model that includes both group-based peer educator and individual-based peer support components; these P2P program models have demonstrated the strongest outcomes with respect to changing attitudes, perspectives, and behaviors, all of which are key targets for reducing suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The Airman's Edge program is comprised of several skills-based strategies that have been shown to directly reduce suicidal thoughts and behaviors (i.e., sleep habits, firearm safety procedures, crisis response planning), and targets population-level contextual variables known to reduce suicide risk (i.e., purpose and meaning in life, social support). The mechanisms by which these strategies reduce suicidal behavior align with an empirically-supported conceptual model, the suicidal mode, which has guided recent advances in military suicide prevention. The delivery platform for the skills-based strategies employed in the Airman's Edge program have demonstrated very good acceptability and feasibility when used with military personnel.

Tracking Information

NCT #: NCT04021758
Collaborators: Xcelerate Innovations
Investigators: Principal Investigator: Craig J Bryan, PsyD The University of Utah