Examining Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Effectiveness of Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) Suicide Prevention...

The study examined racial and ethnic training outcome disparities in the effectiveness of Question, Persuade, and Refer (QPR), a widely disseminated suicide prevention program designed to equip community members with skills to identify and respond to individuals at risk for suicide.

A longitudinal study design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of QPR among a diverse sample of community helpers in one southeastern state in the U.S. 1,027 participants were surveyed immediately before and after the training, and 506 completed a 3-month follow-up. Training outcomes were evaluated using Theory of Planned Behavior constructs (suicide prevention attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control) and measures of suicide prevention knowledge. Nonparametric tests were used to examine differences within and between racial and ethnic participant groups.

Results indicated disparities between White, Hispanic, and Black participants in several evaluation outcomes. QPR had a significantly greater effect on perceived behavioral control for White participants. White and Hispanic participants demonstrated sustained improvement in attitudes and subjective norms, while Black participants showed negligible changes from pre-to-follow-up. Suicide prevention knowledge only significantly improved among White participants.

To address mental health disparities among minoritized communities, there is a need to critically examine suicide prevention training for cultural inclusivity and effectiveness. This study suggests that QPR may not meet the learning needs of minoritized individuals in diverse training cohorts and could benefit from culturally inclusive adaptations. Future research is necessary to explore adaptations that effectively address the needs of culturally diverse training populations.