Developing Adaptive Treatment Strategies to Address Suicidal Risk in College Students: A Pilot Sequential, Multiple...

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology
• Mental Health Research

Background:

• College students face significant mental health challenges, including moderate to severe suicidal risk.
• Effective and adaptable treatment strategies are crucial for this demographic.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the feasibility and acceptability of adaptive treatment strategies for college students with suicidal risk.
• To describe the unique study design of a 2-stage Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial (SMART).

Main Methods:

• A 2-stage Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial (SMART) involving 62 suicidal college students.
• Stage 1: Randomization to suicide-focused or treatment-as-usual (4-8 weeks).
• Stage 2: Re-randomization for insufficient responders to two different suicide-focused interventions (4-16 weeks).

Main Results:

• High recruitment rates and lower-than-expected treatment dropout.
• Rare study dropouts and high fidelity delivery of suicide-focused approaches by counselors.
• High client satisfaction and moderate counselor satisfaction with treatments.

Conclusions:

• Adaptive treatment strategies, specifically a SMART design, are highly feasible and acceptable for suicidal college students.
• This approach is well-received by students, counselors, and university campuses.
• The findings support further investigation of SMART for managing suicidal risk in college populations.