Evaluating the Effectiveness in Initiating Help-Seeking Behaviors by Exposure to an Adult Male Public Service Announcement

Abstract

Numerous studies have demonstrated that PSA campaigns can be effective in increasing awareness/knowledge, attitudes, intentions to change behaviors, and ultimately behaviors; and the majority of suicide prevention PSAs encourage help-seeking behavior by the person at-risk and/or by those worried about a person who might be at risk of suicide. However, to date, only a handful of studies have evaluated the impact of suicide prevention [PSA] campaigns and no suicide prevention PSA campaign has examined whether behavior change occurs in response to short-term implementation of a suicide prevention PSA. The primary goal of this study is to determine whether exposure to short-term (1 month) suicide prevention PSA campaign results in a help-seeking behavior. Results offer initial, limited evidence that public awareness campaigns are effective at getting an audience to engage in a help-seeking behavior, however due to methodological limitations, the superiority of a PSA vs. a printed flyer was not able to be determined.

Keywords:

• Media
• public awareness campaigns
• suicide prevention

Notes

1 For PSA: Number of male Facebook registrants between the ages of 18 and 54 in catchment area; For Flyer: Number of National Guard members who attended drill. These were comparisons of CTRs per each intervention’s “reach.”

2 Impressions: Number of times the PSA was viewed.

3 Reach: Number of people who viewed the PSA at least once; Number of flyers distributed at National Guard drill. These were comparisons of CTRs per each intervention’s “reach.”

4 ⁴ Outcome #1: Number and percent of individuals and number of clicks from PSA or flyer to dedicated SAVE website (number of clicks reflects multiple clicks by some individuals).

5 ⁵ Outcome #2: Number and percent of individuals and number of clicks through to 2nd dedicated sub-page for resources (number of clicks reflects multiple clicks by some individuals)

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Daniel Reidenberg

Daniel Reidenberg, Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, Bloomington, Minnesota, USA.

Alan Berman

Alan Berman Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.