Adolescent suicide prevention: acceptability of school-based programs among secondary school principals.
High school principals' acceptability ratings of three school-based programs for the prevention of adolescent suicide were examined. From a random sample of members from the 1994-1995 membership directory of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), a total of 185 (40%) respondents completed the Suicide Prevention Program Rating Profile (SPPRP), a measure designed to evaluate the acceptability of suicide prevention programs, after reading a description of a particular prevention program. Programs evaluated for their acceptability included (1) curriculum-based programs presented to students, (2) in-service presentations to school staff, and (3) student self-report screening measures. The results indicated that the curriculum-based and staff in-service programs were significantly more acceptable to principals than was the schoolwide student screening program. No significant differences between the acceptability of curriculum-based and inservice programs were found. Limitations of the study and implications for practice and research are discussed.
D000288:Administrative Personnel / Q000523:psychology; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003479:Curriculum; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000379:methods; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011897:Random Allocation; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D012574:Schools; D000092864:Suicide Prevention