An Evaluation of a Suicide Prevention E-Learning Program for Police Officers (COPS): Improvement in Knowledge and Competence

Background: Police officers are at high risk for mental and physical health problems and suicidal ideation. The specific risk factors are numerous and concern stressful missions and administrative aspects of the police profession. So far, the police get only little training on specific missions as well as on coping with stress and suicidal ideation in the police profession. In this study we test the efficacy of the online training COPS (Coping with Suicide) for police officers.Methods: A total of 142 police officers from Germany and Switzerland participated in the study; complete data (baseline and post) are available from 102 participants. The training consisted of three modules covering the topics of delivering death notifications, dealing with individuals with suicidal ideation and dealing with one's own distress and suicidal ideation in the police profession. The primary outcomes are perceived knowledge and self-rated competence regarding the contents of the program, actual knowledge as well as symptoms of depression and anxiety (PHQ-9), and attitudes toward suicide (ATTS). The data are collected at baseline and after completing the training.Results: We found a significant increase in knowledge as well as in perceived competence after completing the training. Mental health and attitudes toward suicide did not change significantly. Years on the job had no moderating effect on the effectiveness of the training.Discussion: The results suggest that a short e-learning program significantly improves knowledge and self-rated competence in delivering death notifications, in suicide prevention and stress management. It can be easily integrated into the daily routine of police-officers, and participants could participate at their own pace and from any location. One limitation of this study is the lack of a control-group. Further advantages and limitations of this study are discussed.Clinical Trial Registration:https://www.drks.de/drks_web/, identifier: DRKS00023882.

A New and Worrisome Predictor of Attitudes Toward Suicide: Self-Rated Health

Do people have the right to end their own lives? The General Social Survey has monitored the attitudes of Americans towards suicide since 1977 using four questions: Do you think a person has the right to end his or her own life if this person has an incurable disease, has gone bankrupt, has dishonored his or her family, or is tired of living and ready to die? These four responses can be combined into a reliable index representing an individual’s attitude toward suicide. As average population education levels have increased and religiosity has fallen, attitudes favoring the right to suicide have increased across the population. This research project introduces a previously understudied predictor of attitudes toward suicide: self-rated health. Using logistic and ordinal logistic regression, and controlling for age, education level, religiosity, marital status, survey year, race, and sex, I find that, over time, self-rated health has become a significant predictor of attitudes toward suicide. Since 2002, respondents who perceived themselves to be in poor health are significantly more likely to favor the right to end one’s life, especially if the individual has an incurable disease. After stratifying by age and race, I find that the relationship between self-rated health and attitudes toward suicide is strongest among individuals in the mid-life and is equally significant as a predictor for White and Black Americans after 2010. These findings provide further evidence that mental health screening is an increasingly vital component of physician/patient interactions and highlight the importance of continuity of care.

The Impact of Suicide Utility Perception on News over Terminally Ill Patients’ Suicide Attitudes: A Pilot Study

Suicide represents a very important issue in public health. For approaching attitudes toward suicide, we have developed an instrument that, following previous recommendations, assesses specific thoughts related to the perception of suicide utility in the press. First of all, we will test the psychometric properties of the scale we created ad hoc for assessing suicide utility perception. After that, we expect to find that the suicide utility perception in the press will have a statistically significant impact on positive attitudes toward terminally ill patients’ suicide (Hypothesis 1). In addition, this relationship will be mediated by suicide legitimation (Hypothesis 2). This mediation will be moderated by depressive symptomatology (Hypothesis 3). The sample was composed of 66 Spanish participants. Suicide legitimation was significantly related to the positive evaluation of terminally ill people’s euthanasia. Finally, when the levels of depression’s psychological concomitants increased, the support for terminally ill people’s euthanasia increased as well. Implications and limitations have been discussed.

Black Americans report greater resilience to suicide unless its interpersonally motivated and are more accepting of others right to die

Purpose Suicide is a public health crisis that differentially affects racial and ethnic groups. Suicide is a public health crisis that differentially affects racial and ethnic groups. American Indians had the highest per capita suicide rates (11.1 for females and 33.4 for males) followed by White Americans (8.0 for females and 29.8 for males; Centers for Disease Control, 2019). There is an emerging focus on racial/ethnic disparities in suicide prevention research. Prior studies suggest that more accepting attitudes toward suicide are associated with elevated suicide risk status. As such, this study aims to examine the association between racial/ethnic identity and three attitude domains: the right to die, interpersonal gestures and resilience. Design/methodology/approach General linear models were used to compare racial/ethnic groups in right to die, interpersonal gestures and resilience attitudes. Findings Participants who identified as Native American or Black were more likely than participants who identified as White, Bi/Multi-racial and Hispanic to hold attitudes supporting interpersonal motivations for suicide. Participants who identified as Black were more likely than participants who identified as White to hold right to die attitudes. Participants who identified as Black were more likely than White participants to report not viewing suicide as an option. These results suggest that racial/ethnic identity impacts attitudes toward suicide. People who identify as Native American or Black may be more likely to see suicide as acceptable for interpersonal reasons despite those who identify as Black being less likely to see suicide as an option. This study has implications for suicide prevention programs and interventions within racial/ethnic communities. Focusing interventions on attitudes supporting interpersonal motivations for suicide may increase effectiveness within Native American and Black communities. Originality/value This study aimed to fill a gap in suicide prevention research by examining associations between racial/ethnic identity and responses to a multidimensional attitude toward suicide measure. No prior study has compared attitudes across multiple domains and racial/ethnic groups.

An Evaluation of Suicide Prevention Education for People Working With Refugees and Asylum Seekers

Background: There are concerning rates of suicidality among asylum seekers and refugees in Australia, and tailored suicide prevention initiatives are needed. Aims: We aimed to evaluate the impact of a tailored suicide prevention education program for people working with asylum seekers and refugees. Method: Attendees of the education program completed self-report questionnaires at pretraining, posttraining, and 4–6 months follow-up. Results: Over 400 workers, volunteers, and students across Australia took part in the education program. A series of linear mixed-effects models revealed significant improvements in outcome measures from pretraining ( n = 247) to posttraining ( n = 231). Improvements were maintained at follow-up ( n = 75). Limitations: Limitations of this research were the lack of a control group and a low follow-up response rate. Conclusion: Findings suggest that a 2 days tailored suicide prevention education program contributes to significant improvements in workers’ attitudes toward suicide prevention, and their confidence and competence in assessing and responding to suicidal distress.

Measuring Attitudes toward Suicide Prevention among Occupational Staff Frequently Exposed to Suicidal Individuals: Psychometric Evaluation and Validation

As the attitudes of healthcare staff are thought to influence the quality and effectiveness of interventions targeting patients’ suicide risk, attitudes are often used as an outcome in the evaluation of suicide-preventive training. Due to various problems related to the validity and reliability of commonly used scales, there is a lack of overall agreement on how to measure these attitudes. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to cross-validate previously used models and to investigate new models to measure professionals’ attitudes toward work with suicidal individuals and to test the longitudinal stability of the models by analyzing new sets of data. The population in the first study consisted of a heterogenous group of 1350 professionals who managed suicidal individuals relatively frequently. The second study included 640 professionals. The results of the cross-validation of previous models were described and a new questionnaire measuring attitudes toward suicide prevention, suicidal individuals, and organizational-facilitated self-efficacy (OSAQ-12) was presented. The three presented models retained a good fit and were stable over time. Valid and reliable measurement models that measure aspects of attitudes toward suicide are a prerequisite for conducting both cross-sectional and intervention studies.