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Assessment of knowledge gains in proactive training for postvention
M E Mackesy-Amiti1, M Fendrich, S Libby
1University of Illinois at Chicago, USA.
Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior
|January 1, 1996
Summary
A new knowledge test effectively measures understanding of suicide postvention training. School personnel demonstrated significant learning gains after completing the proactive training program.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Education
- Public Health
Background:
- Suicide postvention training is crucial for school personnel.
- Evaluating the effectiveness of such training requires reliable measures.
- Existing measures may not adequately assess knowledge gained from proactive interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a knowledge measure for a proactive suicide postvention training program.
- To assess the psychometric properties of the newly developed measure.
- To evaluate the impact of the training program on participants' knowledge.
Main Methods:
- A 25-item true-false knowledge test was developed.
- The test was administered pre- and post-training to 205 school personnel.
- Psychometric analyses, including construct validity, were performed.
Main Results:
- Participants showed statistically significant improvements in overall test scores.
- Significant gains were observed on several individual knowledge items.
- The measure demonstrated construct validity and unidimensionality.
Conclusions:
- The developed knowledge measure is a valid tool for evaluating suicide postvention training.
- The proactive training program effectively enhanced participants' knowledge.
- The study highlights the importance of robust measurement in program evaluation.