Adolescent Suicide Prevention: School Psychologists' Acceptability of School-Based Programs

From a random sample of members of the 1996–1997 membership directory of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), school psychologists' acceptability ratings of three school-based programs for the prevention of adolescent suicide were examined. A total of 211 (46.2%) respondents read a case description of a particular prevention program and completed the Suicide Prevention Program Rating Profile (SPPRP; Eckert, Miller, DuPaul, & Scherff, 2002), a measure designed to evaluate the acceptability of suicide prevention programs. Suicide prevention programs evaluated for their acceptability included: (a) school-wide curriculum-based programs presented to students; (b) in-service presentations to school staff; and (c) students' self-report screening programs. The results indicated that school psychologists rated the staff in-service training and curriculum-based programs as significantly more acceptable than the school-wide screening program. In addition, the school-wide screening program was rated as significantly more intrusive by school psychologists than the staff in-service training or curriculum-based prevention programs.