Youth Suicide Prevention Programming among the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians: Effects of the Lifelines Student Curriculum

John P Bartkowski; Katherine Klee; Xiaohe Xu

doi:10.3390/children11040488

Youth Suicide Prevention Programming among the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians: Effects of the Lifelines Student Curriculum

Children (Basel). 2024 Apr 18;11(4):488. doi: 10.3390/children11040488.

Authors

John P Bartkowski¹, Katherine Klee², Xiaohe Xu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Sociology and Demography, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA.
² Bartkowski & Associates Research Team, San Antonio, TX 78258, USA.

Abstract

Suicide continues to be a leading cause of mortality for young people. Given persistent intersecting forms of disadvantage, Native American adolescents are especially vulnerable to mental health adversities and other suicide risk factors. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (MBCI) implemented the Choctaw Youth Resilience Initiative (CYRI), a five-year SAMHSA-funded project that began in 2019. This study uses Choctaw student pre-test/post-test survey data to examine the effectiveness of the Hazelden Lifelines Suicide Prevention Training curriculum for youth. A lagged post-test design was used, whereby post-surveys were administered at least one month after program completion. Several intriguing results were observed. First, the lagged post-test model was subject to some pre-to-post attrition, although such attrition was comparable to a standard pre/post design. Second, analyses of completed surveys using means indicated various beneficial effects associated with the Lifelines curriculum implementation. The greatest benefit of the program was a significant change in student perceptions concerning school readiness in response to a suicidal event. Some opportunities for program improvement were also observed. Our study sheds new light on suicide prevention training programs that can be adapted according to Native American youth culture. Program implementation and evaluation implications are discussed in light of these findings.

Keywords: Native American; children; elementary; indigenous; mental health; middle school; suicide prevention.

Grants and funding

This study received no external funding through a conventional research grant. Mississippi was a tribal recipient of the Garrett Lee Smith (GLS) Suicide Prevention Grant provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration under the title GLS State/Tribal Youth Suicide (CYRI-MS Award Number: SM082142-01). Grant activities were funded, and evaluators were compensated for effort expended through a flat fee that reflected a competitive market rate. The views and opinions contained in the publication do not necessarily reflect those of SAMHSA or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and should not be construed as such. The APC was waived by the journal.