TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2022//
TI  - The efficacy of the "Talk-to-Me" suicide prevention and mental health education program for tertiary students: a crossover randomised control trial
JO  - European child and adolescent psychiatry
A1  - Afsharnejad, Bahareh
A1  - Milbourn, Ben
A1  - Hayden-Evans, Maya
A1  - Baker-Young, Ellie
A1  - Black, Melissa H.
A1  - Thompson, Craig
A1  - McGarry, Sarah
A1  - Grobler, Melissa
A1  - Clifford, Rhonda
A1  - Zimmermann, Frank
A1  - Kacic, Viktor
A1  - Hasking, Penelope
A1  - Bölte, Sven
A1  - Romanos, Marcel
A1  - Machingura, Tawanda
A1  - Girdler, Sonya
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - Despite suicide ideation being one of the most frequently reported health issues impacting tertiary students, there is a paucity of research evaluating the efficacy of preventive interventions aimed at improving mental health outcomes for students studying at two tertiary institutes. The current study evaluated the efficacy of the "Talk-to-Me" Mass Open Online Course (MOOC) in improving tertiary students' abilities to support the mental health of themselves and their peers via a randomised controlled trial design, comparing them to a waitlist control group. Overall, 129 tertiary students (M = 25.22 years, SD = 7.43; 80% female) undertaking a health science or education course at two Western Australian universities were randomly allocated to either "Talk-to-Me" (n = 66) or waitlist control (n = 63) groups. The participants' responses to suicidal statements (primary outcome), knowledge of mental health, generalised self-efficacy, coping skills, and overall utility of the program (secondary outcomes) were collected at three timepoints (baseline 10-weeks and 24-weeks from baseline). Assessment time and group interaction were explored using a random-effects regression model, examining changes in the primary and secondary outcomes. Intention-to-treat analysis (N = 129) at 10-weeks demonstrated a significant improvement in generalised self-efficacy for "Talk-to-Me" compared to the control group (ES = 0.36, p = .04), with only the "Talk-to-Me" participants reporting increased knowledge in responding to suicidal ideation (primary outcome). This change was sustained for 24 weeks. <br><br>FINDINGS provide preliminary evidence suggesting that the "Talk-to-Me" MOOC can effectively improve tertiary students' mental health and knowledge of how to support themselves and others in distress. ACTRN12619000630112, registered 18-03-2019, anzctr.org.au.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1018-8827
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00787-022-02094-4
ID  - ref1
ER  -