Safety intervention for improving functioning in suicidal attempters (STRONG): A secondary prevention study. Study...

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Suicide is a major preventable cause of death globally.
• The STRONG study investigates an extended Safety Planning Intervention, iFightDepression-SURVIVE (iFD-S), for individuals who have attempted suicide.
• Previous research indicates the need for effective interventions to support suicide attempt survivors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the iFD-S intervention in improving psychosocial functioning among suicide attempters.
• To explore secondary outcomes including quality of life, cognitive performance, clinical state, and neuroimaging correlates.
• To describe the rationale and design of the STRONG study, a national multicenter cohort extension of the SURVIVE study.

Main Methods:

• A two-year randomized clinical trial involving 60 patients.
• Participants are allocated to either iFD-S plus treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU alone.
• Assessments at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months include rater-blinded evaluations of psychosocial functioning, quality of life, cognition, and neuroimaging.

Main Results:

• The study is expected to yield data on the efficacy of iFD-S in patients who have attempted suicide.
• Preliminary findings will inform the potential benefits of this intervention.

Conclusions:

• The study aims to provide insights into the effectiveness of iFD-S for suicidal attempters.
• Results will elucidate the intervention's impact on psychosocial functioning, quality of life, cognition, and neuroimaging.
• This research contributes to the development of evidence-based suicide prevention strategies.