Advancing Student Suicide Interventions With Scalable Technologies

Description

Mobile-based applications, such as Jaspr Health, can deliver evidence-based skills intended to reduce imminent suicide risk (e.g., reducing means access), improve emotional states (e.g., via distraction and coaching to act opposite to emotions), and reduce feelings of social isolation (e.g., via shared stories). Although mobile-device-delivered interventions hold the potential to make interventions widely accessible, user engagement presents a substantial barrier to efficacy. This study, ASSIST: Advancing Student Suicide Interventions with Scalable Technologies, aims to improve engagement with mobile-delivered suicide prevention applications, with the ultimate goal of reducing suicidal thoughts and behaviors in college students. Including human elements alongside Jaspr Health has the potential to improve the uptake of this evidence-based, accessible mobile-device-delivered intervention.

The aim of this study was is to examine the effects of the technological application resource Jaspr tablet application with access to Jaspr at Home (JAH) vs. Jaspr+ human augmentation (e.g., motivationally focused orientation plus prompts) on acceptability, preliminary effectiveness, and engagement among 50 college students who screen positive for suicide risk (n=25 per condition) over the course of 2 months. Candidate mechanisms (e.g., coping skills, self-stigma) will also be assessed. Participants were randomized via the Redcap randomization module, stratified by site.