TY - JOUR
T1 - The efficacy of the "Talk-to-Me" suicide prevention and mental health education program for tertiary students
T2 - a crossover randomised control trial
AU - Afsharnejad, Bahareh
AU - Milbourn, Ben
AU - Hayden-Evans, Maya
AU - Baker-Young, Ellie
AU - Black, Melissa H.
AU - Thompson, Craig
AU - McGarry, Sarah
AU - Grobler, Melissa
AU - Clifford, Rhonda
AU - Zimmermann, Frank
AU - Kacic, Viktor
AU - Hasking, Penelope
AU - Boelte, Sven
AU - Romanos, Marcel
AU - Machingura, Tawanda
AU - Girdler, Sonya
PY - 2023/12
Y1 - 2023/12
N2 - Despite suicide ideation being one of the most frequently reported health issues impacting tertiary students, there is a paucity of research evaluating the efficacy of preventive interventions aimed at improving mental health outcomes for students studying at two tertiary institutes. The current study evaluated the efficacy of the "Talk-to-Me" Mass Open Online Course (MOOC) in improving tertiary students' abilities to support the mental health of themselves and their peers via a randomised controlled trial design, comparing them to a waitlist control group. Overall, 129 tertiary students (M = 25.22 years, SD = 7.43; 80% female) undertaking a health science or education course at two Western Australian universities were randomly allocated to either "Talk-to-Me" (n = 66) or waitlist control (n = 63) groups. The participants' responses to suicidal statements (primary outcome), knowledge of mental health, generalised self-efficacy, coping skills, and overall utility of the program (secondary outcomes) were collected at three timepoints (baseline 10-weeks and 24-weeks from baseline). Assessment time and group interaction were explored using a random-effects regression model, examining changes in the primary and secondary outcomes. Intention-to-treat analysis (N = 129) at 10-weeks demonstrated a significant improvement in generalised self-efficacy for "Talk-to-Me" compared to the control group (ES = 0.36, p = .04), with only the "Talk-to-Me" participants reporting increased knowledge in responding to suicidal ideation (primary outcome). This change was sustained for 24 weeks. Findings provide preliminary evidence suggesting that the "Talk-to-Me" MOOC can effectively improve tertiary students' mental health and knowledge of how to support themselves and others in distress. ACTRN12619000630112, registered 18-03-2019, anzctr.org.au.
AB - Despite suicide ideation being one of the most frequently reported health issues impacting tertiary students, there is a paucity of research evaluating the efficacy of preventive interventions aimed at improving mental health outcomes for students studying at two tertiary institutes. The current study evaluated the efficacy of the "Talk-to-Me" Mass Open Online Course (MOOC) in improving tertiary students' abilities to support the mental health of themselves and their peers via a randomised controlled trial design, comparing them to a waitlist control group. Overall, 129 tertiary students (M = 25.22 years, SD = 7.43; 80% female) undertaking a health science or education course at two Western Australian universities were randomly allocated to either "Talk-to-Me" (n = 66) or waitlist control (n = 63) groups. The participants' responses to suicidal statements (primary outcome), knowledge of mental health, generalised self-efficacy, coping skills, and overall utility of the program (secondary outcomes) were collected at three timepoints (baseline 10-weeks and 24-weeks from baseline). Assessment time and group interaction were explored using a random-effects regression model, examining changes in the primary and secondary outcomes. Intention-to-treat analysis (N = 129) at 10-weeks demonstrated a significant improvement in generalised self-efficacy for "Talk-to-Me" compared to the control group (ES = 0.36, p = .04), with only the "Talk-to-Me" participants reporting increased knowledge in responding to suicidal ideation (primary outcome). This change was sustained for 24 weeks. Findings provide preliminary evidence suggesting that the "Talk-to-Me" MOOC can effectively improve tertiary students' mental health and knowledge of how to support themselves and others in distress. ACTRN12619000630112, registered 18-03-2019, anzctr.org.au.
KW - Suicide prevention program
KW - Mass open online course (MOOC)
KW - Mental health education
KW - University students
KW - PROFESSIONAL PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP
KW - BRIEF-RESILIENCE-SCALE
KW - UNIVERSITY-STUDENTS
KW - SELF-EFFICACY
KW - COLLEGE
KW - SEEKING
KW - INTERVENTIONS
KW - VALIDATION
KW - ATTITUDES
KW - REVISION
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85139460919&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00787-022-02094-4
DO - 10.1007/s00787-022-02094-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 36194311
SN - 1018-8827
VL - 32
SP - 2477
EP - 2489
JO - European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
JF - European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
IS - 12
ER -