The current study proposes to study the feasibility and acceptability of a brief psychosocial intervention delivered to suicide attempt survivors hospitalized on a medical/surgical floor or inpatient psychiatry unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The proposed study will involve training of care providers affiliated with Vanderbilt University Medical Center to deliver the brief intervention. Additionally, the participants will complete baseline, 1, 3, and 12-month assessments on outcomes of interest, including readiness to change problematic behaviors, engagement in outpatient mental health services, suicidal ideation, self-harming behavior, and reasons for living.
One-hundred participants will be recruited from a medical/surgical floor or inpatient psychiatry unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The PI, other Attending Psychiatrists, Psychiatry Resident Physicians, Clinical Psychology Trainees, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners, Psychiatric Social Workers, and Psychiatric Nurse Case Managers will serve as study therapists. A member from the Vanderbilt University research team will obtain informed consent for the participants and then administer the baseline assessment battery. Patients will then be randomized to either (1) a group receiving care as usual plus an experimental intervention targeting suicidal thoughts and behaviors or to (2) a group receiving care as usual. Patients randomized to the experimental group will receive the intervention prior to discharge from the medical center, most likely on the same day as the baseline assessment battery. Patients receiving the experimental intervention will then be asked to complete a brief post-intervention client satisfaction survey. All study participants will then complete telephone follow-up assessments at 1, 3, and 12 months. The intervention will consist of no more than 90 minutes of 1:1 interaction with a study clinician. The baseline assessment battery will take approximately 30 minutes, the post-intervention measures will take approximately 10 minutes, and the 1-, 3-, and 12-month assessment batteries will take approximately 30 minutes. Maximum length of time in the study is approximately 3.75 hours.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
69
functional analysis, collaborative interpersonal style
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Client Satisfaction Questionnaire
The 8-item Client Satisfaction Questionnaire is a general measure of individual satisfaction with health and human services that takes 3-8 minutes to complete.
Time frame: Immediately following Brief Intervention
Change in Stages of Change Questionnaire
The Stages of Change Questionnaire is an 18-item measure based on the original, 32- item scale created by McConnaughy, Prochaska, and Verlicer. The measure has shown acceptable levels of internal consistency in an adult sample (α = .75 to .87) and predictive validity of response to treatment.
Time frame: Baseline, 1-, 3-, and 12-months interviews
Change in Scale for Suicide Ideation
The Scale for Suicide Ideation is a 19-item assessment used to evaluate the current intensity of the patient's specific attitudes toward, behavior, and plans to commit suicide. The measure has been the primary outcome measure in several trials targeting suicidal patients and has evidence of strong psychometrics
Time frame: Baseline, 1-, 3-, and 12-months interviews
Change in Suicide Attempt Self-Injury Count
The Suicide Attempt Self-Injury Count is a brief two-page instrument determining for the first, most recent, and most severe suicide attempt or non-suicidal self-injury (SASI) the date, method of SASI attempt used in index and previous attempts according to the definitions of Linehan et al. (e.g., using definitions of self-inflicted injuries which include situations of actual tissue damage and situations where tissue damage would have occurred except for outside intervention or sheer luck \[e.g., firearm jammed\]), intent to die (i.e., intent to die, ambivalent, no intent to die), highest level of medical treatment received, and lethality.
Time frame: Baseline, 1-, 3-, and 12-months interviews
Change in Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire
The Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire is a 25-item measure that inquires about the extent to which individuals feel connected to others (i.e., belongingness) and the extent to which they feel like a burden on the people in their lives (i.e., perceived burdensomeness). The measure has been used in previous research examining mechanisms underlying suicide attempt survivors and has demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties
Time frame: Baseline, 1-, 3-, and 12-months interviews
Change in Reasons for Living Inventory
The Reasons for Living Inventory is a 48-item measure that rates the importance of different reasons why people choose not to kill themselves. It has shown strong internal consistency and test-retest reliability
Time frame: Baseline, 1-, 3-, and 12-months interviews
Change in Health Services and Medication Use
The Health Services and Medication Use measure will be utilized to examine history of mental health services and medication use in lifetime, previous year, and previous month time periods. The measure was developed and utilized in the National Study of Costs and Outcomes for Trauma.
Time frame: 1-, 3-, and 12-months interviews
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