Micro-randomized Trial to Assess Brief, Just-in-time Interventions for Reducing Short-term Suicide Risk
Massachusetts General Hospital
Summary
The goal of this study is to test the effects of just-in-time intervention strategies aimed to promote implementation of the safety plan and its components at different levels of suicidal urges and intent. The main questions the investigators aim to answer are: 1. What is the acceptability and feasibility of the just-in-time intervention strategies? 2. What are the proximal effects of just-in-time intervention strategies aimed to promote use of the safety plan and its components? 3. What internal and external contextual factors moderate the just-in-time intervention effects? Participants (adults hospitalized for suicidal thoughts or behaviors) will: * Answer questions about current suicidal thoughts on their smartphone up to 4 times each day during both hospitalization and the 4 weeks after they leave the hospital * Each time they submit a survey, be immediately randomized to receive (or not receive) a just-in-time intervention tailored to their level of current suicidal thoughts * Answer brief follow-up questions on their smartphone within a couple hours of each randomization * Provide feedback on their experience with the just-in-time interventions
Description
As the 12th leading cause of death in the United States, suicide is an alarmingly prevalent public health problem. The time period of highest risk for suicide and related behavior (SRB) is immediately (e.g., the weeks) following psychiatric hospitalization. Effective and scalable strategies for preventing SRB among individuals recently discharged from inpatient treatment are urgently needed. Encouragingly, brief evidence-based interventions now exist that reduce risk for suicide after acute psychiatric care. A primary example is safety planning, which involves developing a prioritized list of…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18+ years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * Experiencing suicidal thoughts as part of their inpatient admission * Access to a smartphone following discharge * Ability to speak and write English fluently Exclusion Criteria: * Any factor that impairs the ability to effectively participate in the study (e.g., significant cognitive impairment, intellectual disability, presence of violent behavior, psychotic illness/symptoms determined by the treating clinician to impair ability to understand the study or provide informed consent) * Failure to correctly answer all true/false questions in the consent form
Interventions
- BehavioralPhone call
A phone call from a trained study clinician that uses a standardized phone script to (a) conduct a risk assessment and (b) recommend that the participant use their safety plan (any and all included components), which will be reviewed and revised as-needed during the call. This intervention occurs at High Risk only.
- BehavioralText messaging
A text message conversation initiated by a trained study clinician that uses a standardized text messaging script to (a) conduct a risk assessment and (b) recommend that the participant use their safety plan (any and all included components), which will be reviewed and revised as-needed during the text messaging interaction. This intervention occurs at High Risk only.
- BehavioralAutomated interactive smartphone-based tool
An automated interactive, smartphone-based tool that will (a) (at High Risk only) guide the participant through a risk assessment and (b) (at High and Medium/Low Risk) present recommendation to use and a review of the safety plan.
- BehavioralNon-interactive pop-up messages
Automated non-interactive, static pop-up messages that recommend use of the safety plan or its components (Medium/Low Risk only).
Location
- Mass General BrighamBoston, Massachusetts