Citation

Gould MS, Cross WF, Pisani AR, Munfakh JL, Kleinman M. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 2013; 43(6): 676-691.

Affiliation

Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/sltb.12049

PMID

23889494

Abstract

We examined the impact of the implementation of Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) across the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline's national network of crisis hotlines. Data were derived from 1,507 monitored calls from 1,410 suicidal individuals to 17 Lifeline centers in 2008-2009. Callers were significantly more likely to feel less depressed, less suicidal, less overwhelmed, and more hopeful by the end of calls handled by ASIST-trained counselors. Few significant changes in ASIST-trained counselors' interventions emerged; however, improvements in callers' outcomes were linked to ASIST-related counselor interventions, including exploring reasons for living and informal support contacts. ASIST training did not yield more comprehensive suicide risk assessments.

Language: en