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Education and Training > Suicide Research Spotlight Talks

7/17/2025: Detecting suicide risk among U.S. Service members and Veterans

Suicide is a leading cause of death among U.S. military Service members and Veterans. Unfortunately, many military personnel at risk for suicide do not receive mental health treatment due to both attitudinal (e.g., stigma) and structural barriers. One way to improve resource availability for at risk individuals outside of traditional healthcare settings is to harness social media. Self-disclosures related to mental health and suicide are relatively common on social media, which may provide an opportunity to identify people who would likely benefit from help.

In this presentation Dr. Zuromski discussed how her research team developed an algorithm to identify posts with suicide-related content on a military-specific social media platform and the implications of this research.

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5/15/2025: Informatics Supported Authorship of Caring Contacts (ISACC) Pilot: Innovations, Findings, And Lessons Learned

Caring Contacts (CC) is one of the few low-cost interventions demonstrating protective effects against suicide and has been demonstrated to potentially positively affect other areas of an individual’s mental health besides reducing suicide attempts and ideation. However, CC is inconsistently implemented and can be labor intensive, limiting its adoption and impact. For an intervention to be effective, it must be easy to use (usable), realistic to implement in daily life (feasible), and perceived as supportive and relevant by its users (acceptable). As such, the pilot team conducted a needs assessment using qualitative methods including focus groups, interviews with participants as well as our pilot experience to inform the design considerations for an informatics tool to facilitate the CC intervention and a toolkit to help users implement this scalable intervention.

In this presentation, the study team will share findings from pilot work and how these findings informed the development and optimization of our CC web-app and toolkit. They highlighted methodological innovations that were piloted and are now being used in our clinical trial including the co-design method, strategies for online recruitment, and the use of EMA blocks to examine the effectiveness of ISACC and explored the active mechanisms involved in the intervention.

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5/7/2025: Using Rapid Group Analysis Process (Rap-GAP) to expedite qualitative data analysis for dissemination and implementation research in health care settings: An Overview Presentation

To contribute to implementation and dissemination efforts, qualitative health research must be able to move at a rapid pace that keeps up with the constantly changing demands of real-world practice settings. In this presentation we introduce a novel approach for rapid qualitative data analysis: Rapid Group Analysis Process (Rap-GAP). Rap-GAP builds and improves upon existing rapid qualitative methods and leverages online technology to facilitate an efficient iterative group process.  This method offers a clear process and practical tools to help teams analyze qualitative data on a timeline that will allow them to contribute meaningfully to implementation and dissemination efforts in health care settings.

During the presentation Drs. Hsu and Angerhofer: 1) Described the 5-step Rap-GAP process and demonstrate how to use the method and adapt it for different analytical goals, 2) Introduced tools and templates designed to make Rap-GAP easy to carry out, 3) provided a case example and 4) answered specific questions participants may have regarding the Rap-GAP process. 

3/20/2025: It’s Not Quite the Same: Recommendations for Data Safety Monitoring Boards for Research on Suicidal Thoughts & Behaviors

Data Safety Monitoring Boards (DSMBs) have become increasingly common in psychosocial research trials – particularly those with participants who are considered vulnerable or where the research is taking place at multiple sites, both of which characterize trials of suicide interventions.

DSMBs are helpful to the investigative team, yet many researchers conducting psychosocial intervention or suicide research have limited exposure to DSMBs compared to their medical research colleagues and thus DSMBs can be confusing not only for the investigative team but also for the experts who are asked to serve as members or chairs.

In collaboration with Dr. Greg Simon, Dr. Comtois developed an innovative suicide research specific DSMB format and in this presentation, Dr. Comtois integrated her experience and expertise with a review of the DSMB literature to address key issues in psychosocial intervention and suicide research designed for current and future investigators, as well as, DSMB members and chairs.

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2/20/2025: Trajectories of Suicidal Ideation from Adolescence into Early Adulthood: Interplay of Alcohol Use, Negative Life Events, and Perceived Support

In this presentation, Dr. McCauley focused on factors contributing to the onset, persistence/desistence of SI drawing on data from a subsample of 137 young adults who participated in a longitudinal study of the emotional development of 520 ethnically/socioeconomically diverse individuals, seen in nine waves of data collection from age 12 to age 31.

1/16/2025: Where’s the Evidence for Evidence Based Suicide Prevention?

In this presentation, Drs. Larry Pruitt, Derek Smolenski, and Daniel Evatt discussed the benefits and challenges of randomized controlled trials and the proposed alternatives in the context of suicide research. They highlighted the risks of falling short of acceptable research standards and provided strategies to advance suicide prevention research.

11/21/2024: Zero Suicide Framework Application and Approach at Seattle Children’s

For this spotlight, Dr. Molly Adrian shared about the efforts to incorporate guidance from the Zero Suicide Institute into the routine practices and procedures of care at Seattle Children’s.

During the presentation, Dr. Adrian highlighted the rationale for using Zero Suicide within Children’s Hospital context, the approach to prioritizing and implementing new policies and procedures, and the preliminary outcomes of the work conducted to date.

7/18/2024: Preventing Addiction Related Suicide Trial: Client and Clinician Outcomes

In this month’s spotlight, CSPAR medical director Dr. Rick Ries discussed his stepped-wedge cluster randomized clinical trial that looked at patient and clinician outcomes after implementing the Preventing Alcohol Related Suicide module in community addiction treatment settings. In this trial, counselors at intensive outpatient programs received two hours of training and then delivered PARS in their own groups. The intervention had positive results on patient outcomes as well as clinician satisfaction. In addition to reviewing study outcomes, Dr. Ries also provides an orientation to the PARS module materials. 

To learn more about PARS, take a look at our PARSWeb training and the PARSWeb manual.

6/20/2024: Treatment Preferences of People with Lived Experience of Suicidality: A National Sample

Historically, interventions in suicide care have often been developed by clinicians who have spent a lot of time helping those experiencing suicidality. However, the development of such interventions frequently excludes input from people with lived experience of suicidality. In this month’s spotlight, CSPAR director Dr. Kate Comtois presents research findings from a study with a nationwide sample of individuals with lived experience of suicidality to better understand their opinions and preferences for interventions targeting suicidality. In addition to treatment preferences, participants were surveyed on what values of care were most meaningful to them.

5/16/2024: Exploring TikTok’s Impact on Young Adult Mental Health and Suicidality: Insights from User Perspectives and Data

Today’s adolescents and young adults are immersed in digital spaces, with TikTok being the most popular digital platform used by over 63% of the United States’ adolescents & young adults to connect with others through short video clips. In this presentation, Dr. Keyne Law explores TikTok’s influence on mental health and suicidal ideation. It will include exploring participants’ perceptions regarding the positive and negative influences of TikTok on mental health from qualitative interviews. Then, she will present preliminary quantitative findings from the same participant’s TikTok user data, analyzing how their activity on the app, social connections, and engagement relate to suicidal ideation. The presentation concludes with a discussion on methodological challenges and future directions for suicide research and prevention on social media platforms.

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