Arch Suicide Res. 2021 Oct-Dec;25(4):829-844. doi: 10.1080/13811118.2020.1765929. Epub 2020 Jun 1.
Youth suicide is a major public health concern worldwide. Public service announcements (PSAs) may have a role in suicide prevention, as part of broader suicide prevention campaigns.
We conducted a double-blind four arm randomized controlled trial in which 18 to 24 year olds were allocated to watch one of three suicide prevention PSAs intervention PSAs or a control PSA. Participants provided data prior to viewing their allocated PSA and again four weeks after viewing it. Our primary outcome was a change in participants' attitudes toward the preventability of suicide, and analysis was conducted on an intention-to-treat basis.
A total of 349 participants were randomized to one of four groups and 266 participants provided pre and post viewing data. Across the four groups, no significant change was observed in our primary outcome: attitudes toward the preventability of suicide ( = .455). There were also no differences between groups on secondary outcomes, namely other attitudes toward suicide (permissiveness, incomprehensibility, avoidance and loneliness), risk taking behavior, levels of distress, suicidal ideation, and likelihood of help-seeking and actual help-seeking.
Our study has highlighted that attitudes and help-seeking intentions in young adults are difficult to change with low intensity one-off exposure to PSA messages. Further research is required to understand the factors that contribute to safe and effective messaging about suicide prevention.
青年自杀是全球范围内一个重大的公共卫生关注点。公益广告（PSA）可能在预防自杀方面发挥作用，作为更广泛的预防自杀运动的一部分。
我们进行了一项双盲四臂随机对照试验，将 18 至 24 岁的参与者分配观看三种预防自杀 PSA 干预广告或一种对照 PSA。参与者在观看分配的 PSA 之前和观看后四周提供数据。我们的主要结果是参与者对自杀可预防程度的态度变化，分析基于意向治疗进行。
共有 349 名参与者被随机分配到四个组中的一个，266 名参与者提供了观看前后的数据。在四个组中，我们的主要结果——对自杀可预防程度的态度——没有显著变化（ = .455）。在其他次要结果（即对自杀的其他态度，如宽容度、不可理解性、回避和孤独感）、冒险行为、困扰程度、自杀意念、寻求帮助的意愿和实际寻求帮助方面，各组之间也没有差异。
我们的研究表明，通过低强度的一次性 PSA 信息接触，年轻人的态度和寻求帮助的意愿很难改变。需要进一步研究了解哪些因素有助于安全有效的预防自杀信息传递。
