Effects of gatekeeper trainings from the Austrian national suicide prevention program

Martin Plöderl; Clemens Fartacek; Thomas Kapitany; Ulrike Schrittwieser; Thomas Niederkrotenthaler

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1118319

Effects of gatekeeper trainings from the Austrian national suicide prevention program

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Jul 20:14:1118319. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1118319. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Martin Plöderl^{1

2}, Clemens Fartacek^{1

2}, Thomas Kapitany³, Ulrike Schrittwieser⁴, Thomas Niederkrotenthaler⁵

Affiliations

¹ Center for Inpatient Psychotherapy and Crisis Intervention, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Christian-Doppler University Hospital, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria.
² Department of Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Christian-Doppler University Hospital, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria.
³ Crisis Intervention Center Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
⁴ Institute for Suicide Prevention, Graz, Austria.
⁵ Suicide Research Unit, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna and Wiener Werkstaette for Suicide Research, Vienna, Austria.

Abstract

Background: The development and implementation of gatekeeper trainings were first goals in the national suicide prevention strategy "Suicide Prevention Austria" (SUPRA). The current study aims to assess the short- and longer-term effects of the SUPRA gatekeeper trainings in comparison with established gatekeeper trainings.

Methods: We evaluated 28 gatekeeper trainings including 427 participants by assessing improvement of knowledge (facts about suicide and suicide prevention), gatekeeper self-efficacy and attitudes, and gatekeeper behavior (e.g., asking depressed people about suicide). Assessments were immediately before and after the gatekeeper trainings, with an additional follow-up 6 months later. Effects were compared with benchmark effects of established gatekeeper trainings.

Results: There were substantial improvements in knowledge, self-efficacy and attitudes immediately after the training, comparable or larger than known from evaluations of established gatekeeper trainings. Most of these changes were upheld in the follow-up assessment, with effects comparable to other gatekeeper trainings. There was only a small increase of self-reported gatekeeper behavior, in line with results from other gatekeeper trainings.

Conclusion: The SUPRA gatekeeper training had some beneficial effects in the short- and longterm, with effect sizes comparable to established gatekeeper trainings.

Keywords: SUPRA; gatekeeper; prevention; skills; suicide; training.