Title: Scoping review of 30 years of suicide prevention in university students around the world: efficacy, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness

Abstract:

A scoping review of systematic reviews was carried out to identify evidence of efficacy, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of universal and selective suicide prevention programs among university students worldwide. Five databases were reviewed using terms in English, Spanish and Portuguese. The following were the inclusion criteria: systematic review or meta-analysis or meta-synthesis, suicide prevention in college students; evaluation of the efficacy, effectiveness and/or cost-effectiveness of interventions; peer-reviewed studies. The quality of reviews was assessed. The field of study features three decades of publication in high-income countries. The strategy used, the components of the program and the target audience to which they are delivered interfere with efficacy. In the psychoeducation strategy, the experiential and didactic components are more efficacious in the knowledge about suicide. And the motivational enhancement component promotes greater self-efficacy in suicide prevention. Programs that take a multimodal approach are effective in increasing short-term attitudes related to suicide and reducing rates of completed suicide. The gatekeeper strategy delivered to peer counselors is the most effective one in the outcomes, including short-term and long-term knowledge about suicide and its prevention, self-efficacy in suicide prevention. A greater number of evaluated studies of gatekeeper interventions was identified, indicating a trend in this research field. No review addressed the effects on subgroups that were classified. Only one study addressed cost-effectiveness, pointing out that the psychoeducation and gatekeeper strategies have relevant net benefit rates. The findings indicate that components of the intervention and the target audience to which it is delivered influence efficacy.

Biography:

Hareli Cecchin is a PhD candidate in Clinical Psychology and Culture Department in University of Brasília (UnB), Master in Regional Development, specialist in Logotherapy and Existential Analysis and graduated in Psychology. She has been a psychologist at the Federal University of Tocantins since 2014. She is a member of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP). She has experience in the field of Psychology, with an emphasis on School and Educational Psychology, working mainly on the following topics: suicide prevention, mental health of young people, social vulnerability, and gender.