Suicide intervention training for college staff: Program evaluation and intervention skill measurement.

Objective: Suicide remains a pressing issue for college communities. Consequently, gatekeeper
trainings are often provided for staff. This study examines the effect of one such program, Applied
Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST). Participants: 51 college employees received ASIST in
August of 2014 and were compared to 30 wait-list control participants. Methods: Repeated
Measures ANOVA were used to analyze pre- and post-training: (a) skills at responding to studentsat-risk;
(b) attitudes toward suicide; (c) knowledge about suicide; and (d) comfort/competence/
confidence at helping a student-at-risk. Results: Significant positive training effects were observed
for ASIST on self-report measures and also for objectively assessed skill at responding, after
adjusting for a potential scoring limitation of the Suicide Intervention Response Inventory, Revised
(SIRI-2). Conclusions: ASIST improved the self-perception of college staff at working with studentsat-risk
of suicide and also their skills at performing an intervention. Further, analysis of SIRI-2 data
provides support for a potential instrument revision.