A Pilot Evaluation of a Digital Peer Support Intervention for Suicidal Adolescents
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Summary
Suicide risk has increased among youth in underserved communities, where access to mental healthcare is limited. To address this need, the investigator team plans to evaluate the preliminary efficacy of a brief, low-cost, culturally responsive digital intervention for ethnically diverse youth at risk for suicide in The Bronx, New York. In collaboration with community stakeholders, suicide recovery narratives, featuring adolescents' experiences related to recovery from suicidal thoughts will be developed. A smartphone ecological momentary assessment (EMA) app will be used to evaluate whether a curriculum of these narratives provides anti-suicidal benefits to at-risk adolescents.
Description
This is a single-arm investigation of a novel suicide prevention intervention, called "Supporting Wellbeing with Everyday Experiences of Peers" (SWEEP). In a preliminary phase (Phase 1) of the study, suicide recovery narratives: short first-person stories about lived experience with and recovery from Bronx Adolescents will be collected. The investigator team will then evaluate evaluate the anti-suicidal benefits of this intervention in a single-arm trial. In a subsequent phase (Phase 2), adolescent participants (n=46) will be provided with the SWEEP intervention, which involves reading or list…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 14–18 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * past-month history of suicidal thoughts * past-month history of Major depressive disorder * possession of apple or android smartphone with data plan Exclusion Criteria: * inability to read/write in English * Active mania * Active psychosis * Autism spectrum disorder
Interventions
- BehavioralSupporting Wellbeing with Everyday Experiences of Peers (SWEEP)
Each day during a 14-day trial period, participants will receive one narrative featuring lived experience with and recovery from suicidal thoughts and behaviors. These narratives will be presented in audio and text format via a smartphone app. Participants will also complete self-report surveys assessing study outcomes using the same smartphone app five times per day.
Location
- Montefiore Health SystemThe Bronx, New York