Does Online Peer Counselling Help in Reducing Suicidal Ideation? Outcome-Evaluation of [U25] Germany.

Objective: Cross-sectional and qualitative studies suggest that online peer counseling have potential benefits in addressing suicidality among adolescents and young adults. The present study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of [U25], a low-threshold online peer counseling service provided in Germany.

Method: A non-randomized, longitudinal study design with control group was conducted to measure outcomes at baseline as well as four weeks, three months and six months after baseline. The control group consists of young adults who inform themselves about the service on the internet but do not register for counseling. Primary outcomes included service utilization, suicidal ideation, psychopathological symptoms and life adversities. The original sample consisted of N = 1250 young adults (treatment group: n = 210, control group: n = 1040). After propensity score matching, the treatment and control group each comprised n = 210 participants.

Results: Service utilization increased in the CG but not in the TG. Suicidal ideation and psychopathological symptoms decreased for both groups across all time points. [U25] did not lead to greater symptom reduction compared to the control group. No differences were found in the number of life adversities.

Conclusions: The results indicate that a large number of young adults with suicidal thoughts and other mental health issues feel supported by the U25 platform. However, similar symptom reduction was obtained in the treatment and control group. This result could be explained by the increased support utilization in the control group, which warrants further investigation. This study can serve as a framework for future research with larger sample sizes to further explore and validate these findings.