Beneficial and Harmful Effects of Reducing Public Suicide Stigma

University of Ulm

Status: Completed

Conditions: Public Suicide Stigma

Treatments: Other: Education Text; Other: Contact Video; Other: Education Video; Other: Contact Text

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04756219

352/20

Details and patient eligibility

About

There is growing evidence that negative attitudes towards persons affected by suicide (i.e. persons who experience suicidality, persons who lost a loved one to suicide), so called public suicide stigma, is harmful for suicide prevention, for example by reducing social support, inhibiting help-seeking for suicidality and increasing distress as well as suicidality among stigmatized persons. Reducing public suicide stigma could therefore be an important factor of successful suicide prevention. However, reducing public suicide stigma could also be harmful, for example by increasing attitudes that suicidal behaviour is a normal and acceptable solution for crisis situations, which could decrease help-seeking for suicidality and encourage suicidal behaviour. This project will (1) develop four interventions (contact-based vs. education based, video vs. text) hypothesized to reduce public suicide stigma, (2) determine the efficacy of the four interventions with regard to reducing public suicide stigma, (3) identify additional harmful (e.g. normalization of suicidal behaviour) and beneficial intervention effects (e.g. improved attitudes to seek help) and (4) investigate pathways explaining intervention effects.

Enrollment: 1,800 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Participants need to be at least 18 years old, speak German and provide online informed consent.

Exclusion criteria

Persons who self-report to have experienced suicidality within three months before baseline will be excluded.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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1,800 participants in 6 patient groups, including a placebo group

Contact Video

Experimental group

Description:

Participants randomized to this group will watch a video of a person talking about his recovery after attempting suicide.

Treatment:

Other: Contact Video

Contact Text

Experimental group

Description:

Participants randomized to this group will read a personal story of a person who survived a suicide attempt.

Treatment:

Other: Contact Text

Education Video

Experimental group

Description:

Participants randomized to this group will watch a video of a psychiatrist presenting facts about suicide and suicide prevention.

Treatment:

Other: Education Video

Education Text

Experimental group

Description:

Participants randomized to this group will read a text containing facts about suicide and suicide prevention.

Treatment:

Other: Education Text

Control Contact

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Participants randomized to this group will read a personal story of a person who survived a heart attack.

Treatment:

Other: Contact Text

Other: Contact Video

Control Education

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Participants randomized to this group will read a text containing facts about heart-attacks and their prevention.

Treatment:

Other: Education Text

Other: Education Video