Impact of State Gatekeeper Training Laws on Suicide Prevention Training for School Staff

To evaluate the impact of gatekeeper training laws (GTLs) on the prevalence of suicide prevention training (SPT) among school staff.

This study used representative state-level data on the prevalence of SPT at schools from 2010 to 2022 School Health Profiles biennial reports and state-level legal data on GTLs from previous research. A difference-in-difference analysis was conducted to compare temporal changes in the state prevalence of SPT among lead health education teachers between states with GTL mandates and states without GTL mandates.

GTL mandates led to a 13.7 [95% confidence interval: 7.7, 19.8] percentage point increase in the percent of public secondary schools in which the lead health education teacher received SPT relative to states without a GTL mandate. Event study results suggest that the mandates had a sustained impact on the prevalence of SPTs across all postmandate periods.

GTL mandates led to an increase in the uptake of SPT among school staff, suggesting these mandates may be an effective approach to increase the prevalence of school staff trained in suicide prevention.