Does a Brief Training on Suicide Prevention Among General Hospital Personnel Impact Their Baseline Attitudes Towards Suicidal Behavior?

40 non-clinical & 102 clinical professionals in a university hospital in Brazil were evaluated with the Suicide Behavior Attitude Questionnaire before the start & immediately after a 3-hour training on suicide prevention. Surprisingly, there were no significant differences for the great majority of Questionnaire items between clinical & nonclinical staff both pre- & post-training. Attitudes & beliefs toward suicidality were significantly improved after training as indicated by scores on the majority of questionnaire items. (24 refs.)