SAFETY-A for Promoting Equity in Suicide Prevention Outcomes in Schools
University of California, Los Angeles
Summary
This study will adapt Safe Alternatives For Teens and Youth - Acute (SAFETY-A) for implementation in low-resourced school districts to reduce racial/ethnic disparities in mental health service use (MHS) following identification of suicide risk in youth. SAFETY-A will be adapted to fit the organizational context of school districts and to reduce mistrust of MHS, internalized stigma, and concealment of youth emotional distress that arise in school suicide risk assessments with Asian American and Latinx students. Following a prototyping case series, a feasibility trial will assign four districts to the timing of SAFETY-A implementation to generate preliminary data on feasibility and impacts on proposed mechanisms and youth MHS utilization and clinical outcomes across racial/ethnic groups.
Description
The proposed study will adapt Safe Alternatives For Teens and Youth - Acute (SAFETY-A) for implementation in low-resourced school districts to target putative mechanisms underlying disparities in MHS use following youth suicide risk detection. SAFETY-A will be adapted to reduce mistrust of MHS, internalized stigma, and concealment of youth emotional distress that drive poor engagement in MHS among Asian American and Latinx students and families. Furthermore, SAFETY-A delivery parameters and implementation strategies will be adapted to fit the organizational context of school district policies…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 11+ years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Age 11-19 2. Enrolled in participating school district 3. Present with suicide thoughts or behavior to school personnel 4. Have an identified caregiver who can participate in the intervention Exclusion Criteria: 1. School personnel determine the student to be at such imminent risk of danger to self that they are unable to benefit from the intervention and must be immediate transported for emergency care. 2. Student is unable to participate in the intervention due to indications of intellectual disability, psychosis, or intoxication
Interventions
- BehavioralSafe Alternatives for Teens and Youth-Acute for Schools (SAFETY-A for Schools)
SAFETY-A is a brief, family centered, cognitive-behavioral approach to therapeutic risk assessment and safety planning that can be delivered via school-based providers. The intervention is delivered in one session during which the youth at risk for suicidal behavior works with the provider to identify strengths, supports, understand emotional antecedents and warning signs, identify alternative coping behaviors and thoughts, and ways to keep the environment safe. Youth and families receive follow-up contacts by phone at 1, 2, and 4 weeks after the SAFETY-A session. The primary focus is on the therapeutic mechanisms of hope, reduced intensity of suicidal urges, increased confidence in ability to keep safe. Adaptation of SAFETY-A for Schools will target mechanisms that are presumed to drive disparities in mental health service use among Asian American and Latinx youth: (1) trust in mental health services, (2) internalized stigma, and (3) comfort communicating distress.
Location
- University of California Los AngelesLos Angeles, California