Citation

Soares EE, Giordano BL, Rogers J, Leykin Y, Cordova M, Van Voorhees B, Gladstone TG, Bunge EE. J. Technol. Behav. Sci. 2022; 7(3): 307-314.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s41347-022-00249-3

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for adolescents. Online interventions have the potential to reduce risk factors for suicide, such as hopelessness, social isolation, social rejection, and poor self-esteem. The present study aimed to analyze the impact of engagement with CATCH-IT, an Internet-based depression prevention intervention, on risk factors for suicide. Participants were 369 adolescents aged 13-18 with subclinical levels of depression who were randomized to two conditions: the CATCH-IT modules and time-matched Health Education modules. For adolescents in both conditions, as suicide risk factors (social isolation and social rejection) decreased, hopelessness scores also significantly decreased (p = .021 and p < .001, respectively). There was no main effect of condition on any of the three suicide risk factors. Greater engagement with CATCH-IT (measured by the number of modules completed) was significantly related to a greater reduction in levels of hopelessness (p = .02). Adolescents who identified as African American or Black, Hispanic/Latinx, older, or male spent fewer minutes on the website (all ps < .001). Adolescents who were highly engaged with CATCH-IT were shown to have a greater reduction in suicide risk factors. This relationship varied by demographic characteristic and these findings can support future changes to CATCH-IT to be more engaging to a wider audience. Future efforts should aim to reduce the engagement disparities in adolescents utilizing an online depression prevention program.

Language: en

Keywords

Adolescents; Behavioral intervention technology; Depression prevention; Online engagement; Suicide risk factors; Technological intervention