The Effects of the Peer Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Program for Middle School Students

Purpose: This study was done to evaluate the effects of the peer suicide prevention gatekeeper program for use with middle school students. Methods: The research design was a quasi-experimental research of a nonequivalent control group. The gatekeeper program was used as the experimental treatment with the students from May 14 to June 11, 2010. The 54 research participants were assigned to the experimental (23) or control (31) group. The gatekeeper program was administered four times to the experimental group. Data analysis was done with SPSS 12.0 for t-test and ANCOVA. Results: There were significant changes in the level of problem solving competence. There were no significant changes in the level of depression, and suicidal ideation, Conclusion: These results indicate that the Gatekeeper program is an effective nursing intervention to increase the level of problem solving competence in middle school students.