SAFEGUARD Life Force Study

Not Applicable

Not yet recruiting

• Conditions: Suicide Attempt; Resilience

• Registration Number: NCT07050238
• Lead Sponsor: Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Brief Summary

The Life Force program is a 6-week group skills training designed to boost mental toughness-the ability to maintain peak performance under pressure or adversity, recover from setbacks, cope effectively with challenges, maintain a positive attitude, and persevere towards goals. This research will be the first to study a military adaptation of Life Force, which aims to enhance mental toughness.

The program involves weekly 75-minute training sessions, led by skilled Life Force trainers from the study team, focused on the "Five Cs" of mental toughness: Control, Commitment, Challenge, Confidence, and Connection.

Participants complete a 15-20 minute baseline survey. However, study eligibility isn't guaranteed and is determined by an AI machine learning algorithm built from existing military administrative and health records (EHR from the past 5 years, DEERS, DMDC, and DMSS data) to predict who will benefit most from this training. Consent is required to combine this existing data with survey responses to evaluate the program's effectiveness.

Eligible participants will be randomly assigned to either the Life Force training or a control group. The training group is scheduled for six 75-minute weekly group sessions, starting within the next two weeks. Both groups complete 15-20 minute follow-up surveys at 3 and 6 months, assessing military service, personal history, relationships, social networks, and personality. Training group data will be compared to the control group (who will only complete the surveys) to track progress.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2025-05
• Study First Submitted: 2025-06-25
• Study First Submitted QC: 2025-06-25
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-06-25
• Study Start: 2025-07-01
• Study First Posted: 2025-07-03
• Last Update Posted: 2025-07-03
• Primary Completion: 2028-07-01
• Study Completion: 2029-07-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 2400

Inclusion Criteria

• Active duty Soldiers stationed at Fort Cavazos, TX attending Reception Week at the IRC, mandatory training at the PFC, or group post-deployment services at the DRC. Soldiers who have consented to participate and are identified as being at highest risk for suicide attempt and/or death will be eligible to participate in the training program.

Exclusion Criteria

• Current or previous participation in a SAFEGUARD study, including SAFEGUARD Life Skills, or SAFEGUARD Pathfinding. Self-identified plan of leaving service in active-duty Army, having a permanent change in station (PCS), or deployment within 6 months of enrollment (assessed as part of baseline assessment). Given the likely complex needs of these soldiers, we anticipate many will be actively involved with a range of services and resources commonly considered standard of care (e.g., behavioral health care); connection to these will not be considered an inclusion or exclusion criteria. All participants, regardless of study condition, will receive standard of care throughout study participation.

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Suicide related behaviors (defined as nonfatal and fatal suicide attempts)	6 months following completion of the baseline survey