Australian university students are at risk of experiencing poor mental health, being vulnerable to self-harm and suicidal ideation.
"Talk-to-Me" is a suicide ideation prevention Massive open online course (MOOC) previously showing it can support Western Australian university students' knowledge of identifying and responding to suicide ideation in themselves and others.
A multi-site one-group pre-test/post-test design with a 12-week follow-up explored the efficacy of "Talk-to-Me" for university students Australia-wide, evaluating the influence of COVID-19 and location. Overall, 217 students (55% female; mage = 24.93 years [18, 60]) enrolled in this study from 2020 to 2021. Participants' responses to suicidal statements, mental health literacy, generalized self-efficacy, help-seeking behavior, and overall utility of the program were collected at baseline, post-MOOC (10 weeks from baseline) and 12-week follow-up. The effect of time and location interaction was explored using a random-effects regression model.
Findings indicated significant improvement in participants' knowledge of positive mental health support strategies (ES = 0.42, p < 0.001) and recognizing appropriate responses to suicidal statements (ES = 0.37, p < 0.001) at 10-weeks, with further improvement at 12 weeks follow-up (ES = 0.47 and 0.46, p < 0.001). Students reported higher generalized self-efficacy at the 12-week follow-up compared to baseline (ES = 0.19, p = 0.03) and an increased tendency to seek professional help for mental health issues (ES = 0.22, p = 0.02).
These findings provide preliminary evidence of the efficacy of the "Talk-to-Me" program in supporting university students across Australia to increase their suicide-related knowledge and skills, general self-efficacy, and overall mental fitness.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
2
3%
Philosophy
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Other
4
6%
Unknown
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Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 07 August 2023.
All research outputs
#22,773,928
of 34,145,339 outputs
Outputs from Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior
#1,237
of 1,559 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#201,918
of 387,729 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior
#12
of 17 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,145,339 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 32nd percentile – i.e., 32% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 17 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 29th percentile – i.e., 29% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
