- Problem or objective of the study
The objective of the study was ensuring that there is reduced suicide cases in the United States particularly among people who have been detained. The problem being addressed by the study regards cases of suicide incidences in the United States and why people who have been detained often engage in suicide incidences. Basing on the 2012 statistics provided, there are around 12 million admissions in United States’ jails. When people are jailed, that process and period is usually associated with a lot of stressors. There is a wide body of literature which has associated the suicide epidemic with jail detention. As a result, the study aims at finding interventions that will see reduced cases of suicide among individuals who have been detained.
- Research question(s)
- Why are the high numbers of suicide cases among people who have been jailed?
- What type of stressors detained individuals’ face that prompt them to engage in suicide?
- What interventions can be put in place to reduce suicide cases among detained individuals?
- Subjects for study
The study will use a total of 800 pretrial jail detainees who are at risk of engaging in suicide. The participants will be randomly assigned to the suicide prevention program called Safety Planning Intervention (SPI) approach.
- Measurement – What are the key variables in the study?
The independent variable in the study is the rate of suicide cases among at risk individuals who are in transition from jail life. On the other hand, the dependent variable that will be compared to the current cases of suicide is the cases of suicide in the aftermath of the behavioral intervention implementation. The study will be conducted by randomized evaluation of a suicide prevention intervention specifically by using Stanley and Brown’s Safety Planning Intervention (SPI).
- Data collection – How was the data collected in the study?
The data for this particular study was gathered from 800 suicide pretrial jail detainees. The gathered data was collected from participants’ attempts, suicide behaviors, emergency department visits and other related suicide associated hospitalizations. The data for the study was drawn from self-reports, hospital records and death records. Collection of data also included observations of treatment of utilization among the participants, suicide associated problem solving and belongingness.
- Analysis – What kind of analysis was done in the study?
The study employed randomized control trial to analyze this particular research. The gathered data inclusive of phone call follow up will be analyzed after all the data has been gathered among all participants after the one year of the intervention following jail release. The latest SPSS version will be used for statistical analysis. Analysis will be performed basing on the intention to treat (ITT) principle. The data will be evaluated basing on how the participants were initially assigned to individual arms at the baseline level.
- Results – What were the results of the study?
The findings of this study will measure the rate of suicide events comparing the current cases after the study and before the study implementation. The number of suicide events will comprise of the number of attempts, suicide related hospitalization, dates and behaviors. The weeks of active suicide ideation will be done using Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) which is a suicide intensity subscale score.
References
Johnson, J. E., Jones, R., Miller, T., Miller, I., Stanley, B., Brown, G. & Russell, D. (2020). Study Protocol: A randomized controlled trial of suicide risk reduction in the year following jail release (the SPIRIT Trial). Contemporary clinical trials, 94, 106003.
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