Suicide Prevention Program on a Diverse College Campus: Examining the Effectiveness of a Peer-to-Peer Model

ABSTRACT

With the high prevalence of college students experiencing psychological distress, it is becoming increasingly important to provide prevention and early intervention programs in addition to traditional psychological counseling services. This study examined the effectiveness of a suicide prevention program led by peer educators/trainers on a diverse college campus. Twenty-five suicide prevention workshops were conducted with 479 attendees. Preworkshop and postworkshop assessments revealed significant improvements in participants’ knowledge of suicide and resources. Recommendations for campus-wide suicide prevention efforts using diverse peer educators that reflect the students’ demographic and cultural background, recruitment strategies, and utilization of outreach programming in suicide prevention.

KEYWORDS:

• College counseling
• outreach
• peer gatekeeper
• psychoeducation
• suicide prevention

Additional information

Funding

The suicide prevention program examined in this article was supported by the CalMHSA (California Mental Health Services Authority) Student Mental Health Initiative. The CalMHSA is an organization of county governments working to improve mental health outcomes for individuals, families and communities. CalMHSA administers programs funded by the Mental Health Services Act (Prop. 63) on a statewide, regional and local basis.