Development Of A Competency-based Improvement Curriculum For Adolescent Suicidal Prevention: Application And Evaluation

Objectives The present study aims to develop a set of brief training course which is effective and operational for preventing adolescent suicide behaviors, and to evaluate its application to adolescent students and the intervention effect on psychosocial competence.Methods The curriculum formation was theoretically based on literature review and previous research. Based on convenient sample principle, questionnaire survey was carried out in 206 adolescents selected from second grade students in a junior middle school and second-year students in a college. Two rounds of adolescent suicide behavior intervention program were carried out using the above curriculum. Students intervened in the first round were turned to be the control group in the second round. Suicidal behaviors and sub-health status were investigated through questionnaire surveys before, during and after two interventions. Chi-square test was used to compare the report rates of suicidal behaviors, sub-health status and coping style in adolescents before and after intervention training.Results Competency-based improvement curriculum applying to middle school, high school and college students was developed,which have six units contained two class hours education. The curriculum exhibited good maneuverability when applied in adolescent selected. The spirit of the curriculum could be easily absorbed by participants. Report rate of suicide ideation, suicide plan and attempted suicide of adolescents was 11.1%, 3.9% and 2.0%, respectively, before curriculum implementation. The rate of physical, psychological sub-health and psychosomatic sub-health symptoms of adolescents was 17.5%, 11.2%, and 11.2% respectively. There was no statistical significance between treated group and blank control group.After the first round of training, high positive coping style percentile rank increased and it showed significant difference before and after the training (P<0.01). High and moderate negative coping style percentile rank were declined and the different before and after intervention showed statistically significance (P<0.01). Report rates of physical, psychological sub-health and psychosomatic sub-health symptoms of adolescents in treated adolescents were markedly declined and showed significant difference compared to report rates of those symptoms before intervention (P<0.01) . The rates of suicide ideation in treated group decreased by 5.8%, but the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05).After the second round of training, high and moderate positive coping style percentile rank increased and showed significant difference compared with before (P<0.01). High negative coping style percentile rank decreased and the difference before and after intervention showed statistically significance (P<0.01).The rates of physical and psychosomatic sub-health symptoms of adolescents in blank control were markedly declined and there was significant difference compared with before (P<0.01), but the difference in psychological sub-health score was not statistically significant. The rates of attempted suicide in blank control decreased and there was significant difference compared with before (P<0.01).Conclusions The self-documenting curriculum development based on competency-based improvement is an effective curriculum for preventing suicidal behaviors of adolescents. It can exert effect on improving psychosocial competence, but also decrease psychopathological symptoms for adolescent students. The curriculum can be further applied and evaluated in preventing suicidal behaviors of adolescent students.