Youth suicide prevention: a survey of public school superintendents' acceptability of school-based programs.
From a random sample of members of the 2000-2001 membership directory of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), public school administrators' acceptability ratings of three school-based programs for the prevention of adolescent suicide were examined. A total of 210 (46%) respondents examined a description of a suicide prevention program and completed a measure designed to evaluate the acceptability of suicide prevention programs. Three suicide prevention programs were evaluated for their acceptability, and included: (a) school-wide curriculum-based programs presented to students; (b) in-service presentations to school staff; and (c) self-report screening programs for students. The results indicated that superintendents rated the staff in-service training and curriculum-based programs as significantly more acceptable than the school-wide screening program. In addition, the school-wide screening program was rated as significantly more intrusive by school psychologists than the staff in-service training or curriculum-based prevention programs. Limitations of the study and future research directions are discussed.
Scherff
Andrew R
AR
Department of Psychology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA.
Eckert
Tanya L
TL
Miller
David N
DN
D000288:Administrative Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D000293:Adolescent; D001290:Attitude; D003479:Curriculum; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training / Q000458:organization & administration; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000458:organization & administration; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States; D000092864:Suicide Prevention