Comparing self-guided and traditional crisis response planning: A pilot randomized controlled trial in US military veterans

Abstract

US Military Veterans demonstrate a heightened prevalence of suicides when compared to the general population, but many within this population experience significant barriers to receiving efficacious suicide prevention interventions, including brief interventions such as Crisis Response Planning (CRP). We conducted a pilot randomized controlled trial comparing the relative effectiveness of traditional CRP administered by a trained individual to a self-guided version (CRP-S) in reducing suicidal ideation intensity over a one-week period following administration in 72 US military Veterans with past-month death or suicidal ideation. Results of estimated growth curve models demonstrated suicidal ideation non-significantly decreased across one-week follow-up, with results consistent across CRP and CRP-S; participants reported greater use of either version of the intervention on days when they had more severe suicidal ideation. Suicidal ideation did not significantly change as a function of any combination of administration type or CRP/-S use. These results indicted the CRP and CRP-S may perform similarly in reducing suicidal ideation over a one-week period, however, use of these interventions is limited.