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Brief Problem-solving Intervention in Different Formats for the Prevention of Suicide in Adults Over 50
Sponsor: University of Santiago de Compostela
Summary
Suicide represents a personal tragedy and an enormous global public health problem. One of the most vulnerable groups is adults 50 years and older. Despite this stage of life is particularly amenable to the implementation of targeted suicide prevention strategies, we have few studies of the efficacy of psychological interventions, those that do exist have methodological limitations, and none were implemented in formats other than face-to-face, which limits their accessibility. There is a need for brief psychological interventions that can be administered in both face-to-face and remote formats, do not require long training periods, and are effective in different contexts: for example, problem-solving therapy. The main objective of this project is to evaluate the efficacy of a brief problem-solving psychological intervention for targeted suicide prevention in people aged 50 years and older, administered in face-to-face, conference call, and smartphone app formats. A randomized controlled trial will be performed. Participants will be recruited through healthcare centers in the Autonomous Community of Galicia (Spain). To be included, participants must: (a) be at least 50 years old, (b) reside in Galicia, and (c) present suicidal ideation. Subjects will be excluded if they: (a) present serious mental health or medical disorders; (b) have begun receiving psychological or psychopharmacological treatment in the previous two months or are participating in other suicide prevention research; (c) do not have an appropriate mobile device or sufficient fluency to communicate in Spanish, or have problems that make it impossible to participate; or (d) plan to move in the next 18 months. At pre-intervention information will be collected on sociodemographic, family, personal history, current suicide risk and other clinical variables. 212 participants will be randomly assigned to (1) a problem-solving-based psychological intervention delivered face-to-face (PSPI-FF; experimental group 1); (2) a problem-solving-based psychological intervention delivered via telephone conference call (PSPI-CC; experimental group 2); (3) a problem-solving-based psychological intervention delivered via a smartphone app (PSPI-A; experimental group 3); or (4) a usual care control group (UCCG). Participants in the experimental groups will complete the six sessions/modules of the interventions. Finally, subjects in all groups will be evaluated at post-intervention and 3, 6 and 12-month follow-ups.
Official title: Efficacy of a Brief Poblem-solving Based Psychological Intervention Implemented in Different Formats for the Indicated Prevention of Suicide in Adults Over 50
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
50 Years - Any
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
212
Start Date
2023-09-01
Completion Date
2026-05-31
Last Updated
2024-04-01
Healthy Volunteers
No
Conditions
Interventions
Problem-solving-based psychological intervention
The intervention will include training in the components of the problem-solving model and other behavioral and cognitive skills such as detecting warning signals, monitoring mood, relaxation techniques, self-reinforcement, strategies for acting in crisis situations, engaging in enjoyable activities, mindfulness meditation techniques, or strategies for reframing irrational thoughts. It will be developed from the problem-solving model (D'Zurilla and Nezu, 1982) and will reference the indicated prevention program for depression (Vázquez et al., 2015), which has shown efficacy in reducing depressive symptoms and preventing the onset of depression episodes (Otero et al., 2015; Vázquez et al., 2013), with results on symptomatology maintained at 8 years (López et al., 2020); and the indicated prevention intervention that demonstrated efficacy in reducing suicide risk (Xavier et al., 2019).
Locations (1)
Research Group on Mental Health and Psychopatology
Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Spain