Nudging Parental Action With A Randomized Controlled Trial of Text Messaging Intervention for Suicide Prevention
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Summary
The goal of the study is to determine effectiveness of a behaviorally informed text messaging intervention to help parents increase safety practices and reduce their teens' access to lethal means following a suicide-related emergency department visit.
Description
This study tests a text messaging program that helps parents keep their teens safe after a visit to the emergency department for suicidal thoughts or behavior. Adolescents face a higher risk of suicide after leaving the emergency department, and limiting access to lethal means such as firearms, medications, or other dangerous items can help prevent suicide. The investigators invite parents and their teens aged 12 to 17 who visit the emergency department at Children's Medical Center Dallas for suicide-related reasons to join the study. After enrolling, families will be randomly assigned to one…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 13–17 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * Guardian must be able and willing to provide informed consent, and the participant must be able and willing to provide assent. * Parent and adolescent willingness and ability to participate in study procedures and complete assessments at baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks. * Presentation to the ED for a suicide-related emergency, defined as suicidal ideation within the last 2 weeks or a suicide attempt within the past month. * Adolescents aged 12-17 years during the consent. * Access to a mobile phone with text messaging capability for the parent/legal guardian. * Ability t…
Interventions
- OtherText-messaging for safety reminders
The intervention consists of thrice-weekly, behaviorally informed text messages delivered to parents over six weeks period.
- OtherText-messaging with safety reminders and risk framing
Thrice-weekly messages incorporating safety precautions and evidence-based suicide risk statistics to recalibrate parental risk perception.
Location
- Children's Medical CenterDallas, Texas