From Role-Play to Real Life: Using Gatekeeper Skills in Real-World Situations

ABSTRACT

While gatekeeper trainings have demonstrated their effectiveness in appraisals of preparedness, efficacy, and intention to intervene, evidence has been lacking regarding gatekeeper behaviors in real life. The I CARE training aims to increase intervention in real-world situations involving suicidality through informational and experiential learning, enhanced by emotional support and guidance from counseling center facilitators. In mixed-method follow-up assessments, respondents reported utilizing specific skills they learned during the training, noting their ability to listen, ask directly about suicidality, connect others with services, and draw on a variety of supportive resources. Of those who encountered a potentially suicidal student, two-thirds asked the student if they were thinking of hurting or killing themselves; others reported taking preventive actions. Perceived support and gatekeeper outcomes were correlated. The findings affirm the effectiveness of communal efforts to support college students’ mental health and suggest ways to enhance effective intervention in actual situations with students in distress.

KEYWORDS:

• Suicide prevention
• college students
• gatekeeper training
• gatekeeper behavior
• perceived support

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the University of Pennsylvania’s Student Health and Counseling staff who helped to facilitate and organize the trainings, and the students, staff and faculty who participated in the assessments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.