Group Interventions for Suicidal African Americans

Attention will be paid to Theory of Triadic Influence intrapersonal, social/ situational, and cultural/ environmental risk and protective factors that impact outcomes. The central hypothesis is that compared to enhanced treatment as usual, through targeting Theory of Triadic Influence-risk and protective factors the culturally-informed, Theory of Triadic Influence-driven, empowerment based psychosocial group intervention will more positively alter trajectories in suicidal behaviors and its correlates. The rationale is that upon study completion, if data support the psychosocial group intervention value, they will facilitate our long-term goal of disseminating evidence-based culturally-relevant interventions.

In order to test the hypothesis that at post-intervention and 6 and 12-month follow-up, compared to individuals in ETAU, those in the PGI will endorse less I, SS, and CE risk factors, reduced suicidal ideation, depressive symptoms, and hopelessness, and greater levels of I, SS, and CE protective factors as well as increased quality of life, the study procedures will be as follows: Male and female participants between the ages of 18-64 will be recruited in the medical and psychiatric emergency rooms at GHS. Once the individual has been medically cleared and has provided informed consent, he/she will be screened for study appropriateness by trained project team members (10-20 minutes). If he/she meets inclusion criteria, study participation will include a 3-hour interview. All study measures will be read to each participant. Measures will assess background variables, suicidal behavior, depressive symptoms, hopelessness, quality of life, and I, SS, and CE risk and protective factors. All measures are psychometrically sound and appropriate for use with an African American population. Once the interview is over, the participant will be randomly assigned to either the PGI (10 group therapy sessions) or the ETAU condition (participation in a support group focused on suicidal behaviors plus suicidal behavior monitoring and help with accessing resources). The PGI, conducted in accord with the culturally informed, TTI-guided, and empowerment based group protocol, and the support group will be unstructured; both groups will last 120 minutes. Following the completion of the PGI or ETAU condition, the individuals will be assessed at post-intervention (3 hours), and at 6 month and 12 month follow-ups (3 hours each). To increase retention and reduce suicide risk, reminder phone calls will be made and texts sent on Relieflink, a suicide prevention app that received 1st prize in an App Challenge sponsored by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.