Many Helping Hearts: an Evaluation of Peer Gatekeeper Training in Suicide Risk Assessment

This study evaluated the efficacy of gate keeper training with high school peer helpers. Significant gains in knowledge about suicide & skills for responding to suicidal peers were found to be evident immediately after training & 3 months later. There was also significant improvement in positive attitudes toward suicide intervention following training. The research offers tentative support for the efficacy of training peer helpers in suicide risk assessment & indicates the importance of additional training for peer helpers. (20 refs)