1 - (SYM 104) Freely-available Resources for Youth Suicide Prevention

Background: Training access for suicide-specific evidence-based practices (EBPs) is limited which exacerbates existing gaps between implementation and practice. Freely-available, asynchronous training resources can improve the dissemination and implementation of EBPs for suicide prevention. While freely-available web-based training videos have proliferated, there have been no efforts to quantify their breadth, depth, and content for suicide prevention. Identifying existing freely-available resources for suicide prevention is a critical step in leveraging these resources to benefit providers, consumers, and other stakeholders.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review of freely-available training videos ( >2 minutes) for suicide prevention EBPs across four large video-sharing platforms: YouTube, Vimeo, Bing Video, and Google Video. Search terms, search strategy, inclusion/exclusion criteria, and content codebook were developed collaboratively by experts in suicide prevention, implementation science, and computational social science. Initial results (N = 49,555) were aggregated, primary screened and deduplicated (N = 18,291), screened in full (N = 1,171), and content coded (N = 567). Results will be presented from videos focused on suicide prevention in youth (N = 187). 

Results: Average length of included videos (N = 187) was 44.6 minutes (range: 2-119). Only a portion of videos (n = 81) presented intervention or screening content. Within this sample, content was focused predominantly on suicidal ideation and/or behaviors (SI/B; n = 66), compared to non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI; n = 7) or combined SI/B and NSSI (n = 7). More videos targeted gatekeepers (n = 55), compared to clinical providers (n = 26). Lay providers included non-traditional providers, such as school-based personnel (n = 61; i.e., teachers, administrators), caregivers (n = 25), and peers (n = 6). A small portion of videos provided content focused on suicide prevention for minoritized and vulnerable youth (n = 18).

Discussion: Only a fraction of identified videos focused on youth suicide prevention. Few videos offered formal intervention or screening content either to lay providers or professionals. Video content focused largely on suicidal ideation and/or behaviors. Additionally, there were notable gaps in content targeting providers serving minoritized and/or underserved youth. Methodology and future directions will be further discussed.