Long-term Outcomes for the Promoting CARE Suicide Prevention Program

OBJECTIVES: To provide a long-term look at suicide risk from adolescence to young adulthood for former participants in Promoting CARE, an indicated suicide prevention program. METHODS: Five hundred ninety-three suicide-vulnerable high school youth were involved in a long-term follow-up study. Latent class growth models identify patterns of change in suicide risk over this period. RESULTS: Three distinct trajectories are determined, all showing a maintenance of decreased suicide risk from postintervention in adolescence into young adulthood for direct suicide-risk behaviors, depression and anger. Intervention conditions as well as key risk/protective factors are identified that predict to the long-term trajectories. CONCLUSION: Early intervention is successful in promoting and maintaining lower-risk status from adolescence to young adulthood, with the caveat that some high-risk behaviors may indicate a need for additional intervention to establish earlier effects.