| CTRI Number |
CTRI/2022/09/045439 [Registered on: 12/09/2022] Trial Registered Prospectively |
| Last Modified On: |
29/08/2023 |
| Post Graduate Thesis |
No |
| Type of Trial |
Interventional |
|
Type of Study
|
Behavioral |
| Study Design |
Randomized, Parallel Group, Multiple Arm Trial |
|
Public Title of Study
|
Effects of reading positive media reports on suicide |
|
Scientific Title of Study
|
Determining the effects of protective suicide content in the print media in India |
| Trial Acronym |
|
|
Secondary IDs if Any
|
| Secondary ID |
Identifier |
| NIL |
NIL |
|
|
Details of Principal Investigator or overall Trial Coordinator (multi-center study)
|
| Name |
Dr Lakshmi Vijayakumar |
| Designation |
Consultant Psychiatrist |
| Affiliation |
Samarth |
| Address |
Samarth
Dept. of Social Psychiatry
Social Science Division
No. 100 Warren Road
Old No. 11
Mylapore
Department of Social Psychiatry
Social Science Division
No. 100 Warren Road
Old No. 11
Mylapore
Chennai
TAMIL NADU
600004
India |
| Phone |
9841017489 |
| Fax |
|
| Email |
lakshmi@vijayakumars.com |
|
Details of Contact Person
Scientific Query
|
| Name |
Dr Lakshmi Vijayakumar |
| Designation |
Consultant Psychiatrist |
| Affiliation |
Samarth |
| Address |
Samarth
Dept. of Social Psychiatry
Social Science Division
No. 100 Warren Road
Old No. 11
Mylapore
Dept. of Social Psychiatry
Social Science Division
No. 100 Warren Road
Old No. 11
Mylapore
Chennai
TAMIL NADU
600004
India |
| Phone |
9841017489 |
| Fax |
|
| Email |
lakshmi@vijayakumars.com |
|
Details of Contact Person
Public Query
|
| Name |
Dr Lakshmi Vijayakumar |
| Designation |
Consultant Psychiatrist |
| Affiliation |
Samarth |
| Address |
Samarth
Dept. of Social Psychiatry
Social Science Division
No. 100 Warren Road
Old No. 11
Mylapore
Dept. of Social Psychiatry
Social Science Division
No. 100 Warren Road
Old No. 11
Mylapore
e
Chennai
TAMIL NADU
600004
India |
| Phone |
9841017489 |
| Fax |
|
| Email |
lakshmi@vijayakumars.com |
|
|
Source of Monetary or Material Support
|
| Resource Centre for Youth Mental Health Services- Schizophrenia Research Foundation
Greams Dugar Building
No. 64 Greams Road
Thousand Lights
Chennai 600 006 |
|
|
Primary Sponsor
|
| Name |
Samarth |
| Address |
100 Warren Road
Old No 11
Mylapore
Cheennai 600004 |
| Type of Sponsor |
Other [Social Science Research NGO] |
|
|
Details of Secondary Sponsor
|
|
|
Countries of Recruitment
|
India |
|
Sites of Study
|
| No of Sites = 1 |
| Name of Principal
Investigator |
Name of Site |
Site Address |
Phone/Fax/Email |
| Shuba Kumar |
Resource Centre for Youth Mental Health Services- SCARF |
RYMHS-SCARF
No.149
First Floor Greams Dugar Apartments
Greams Road
Chennai- 600006
Chennai
TAMIL NADU |
9840345007
shubakumar@samarthngo.org |
|
|
Details of Ethics Committee
|
| No of Ethics Committees= 1 |
| Name of Committee |
Approval Status |
| Institutional Ethics Committee of Schizophrenia Research Foundation |
Approved |
|
|
Regulatory Clearance Status from DCGI
|
|
|
Health Condition / Problems Studied
|
| Health Type |
Condition |
| Healthy Human Volunteers |
The study will seek to test the protective effects of exposure to educative suicide prevention messaging in the print media in India on beliefs about refraining from suicide |
|
|
Intervention / Comparator Agent
|
| Type |
Name |
Details |
| Comparator Agent |
Control Group |
Control Group will read three newspaper articles on diabetes, a public health issue unrelated to suicide and unlikely to impact responses on the study measures. |
| Intervention |
Experimental Group 1 |
Experimental group 1 will be given newspaper articles containing WHO guideline-based educative suicide prevention messaging. These articles will be characterised by stories on real suicide prevention programs and awareness raising activities; suicide prevention opinions from mental health experts; real suicide prevention research findings; and, information on helping behaviours, real services and helplines |
| Intervention |
Experimental Group 2 |
Experimental Group 2 will be given the same articles with the addition of brief lived experience accounts of males and females with suicidal ideation without suicidal behaviour. Each article will contain one lived experience story of a young adult who survived a suicide crisis, emphasising a range of different coping strategies and supports. These articles will be based on real stories, but with fictional identities and locations |
|
|
Inclusion Criteria
|
| Age From |
18.00 Year(s) |
| Age To |
29.00 Year(s) |
| Gender |
Both |
| Details |
Eligible participants will be young adults 18-29 years of age based in Chennai who consent to participate |
|
| ExclusionCriteria |
| Details |
Youth with low literacy and who belong to a health profession or a student of a health-related course |
|
|
Method of Generating Random Sequence
|
Computer generated randomization |
|
Method of Concealment
|
Sequentially numbered, sealed, opaque envelopes |
|
Blinding/Masking
|
Participant and Investigator Blinded |
|
Primary Outcome
|
| Outcome |
TimePoints |
Primary outcomes are
1.Beliefs about refraining from suicide measured using The Survival and Coping Beliefs subscale of the Reasons for Living Scale |
Baseline
Immediately after exposure
Two weeks after the exposure |
|
|
Secondary Outcome
|
| Outcome |
TimePoints |
1.Suicide prevention knowledge will be measured by the Literacy of Suicide Scale LOSS
2.Intended help-seeking behaviour will be measured by The General Help-Seeking Questionnaire GHSQ
3.Stigmatising attitudes towards suicide will be measured using the Stigma of Suicide Scale SOSS
4.Attitudes towards the preventability of suicide will be measured using the Attitudes Toward Suicide ATTS questionnaire
|
Baseline
Immediately after exposure
Two weeks after the exposure |
|
|
Target Sample Size
|
Total Sample Size="375"
Sample Size from India="375"
Final Enrollment numbers achieved (Total)= "Applicable only for Completed/Terminated trials"
Final Enrollment numbers achieved (India)="Applicable only for Completed/Terminated trials" |
|
Phase of Trial
|
N/A |
|
Date of First Enrollment (India)
|
03/10/2022 |
| Date of Study Completion (India) |
Applicable only for Completed/Terminated trials |
| Date of First Enrollment (Global) |
Date Missing |
| Date of Study Completion (Global) |
Applicable only for Completed/Terminated trials |
|
Estimated Duration of Trial
|
Years="1"
Months="6"
Days="0" |
Recruitment Status of Trial (Global)
Modification(s)
|
Not Applicable |
| Recruitment Status of Trial (India) |
Open to Recruitment |
|
Publication Details
|
To be decided |
|
Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement
|
Will individual participant data (IPD) be shared publicly (including data dictionaries)?
Response - NO
|
|
Brief Summary
|
Approximately 28% of global suicides occurs in India (17% of world population) and responsible media reporting of suicide holds promise as a low cost strategy in this resource constrained setting. Research by the investigators has documented that print media in India offers readers a daily diet of prominent, graphic and simplistic reports of suicidal behaviours written by crime reporters. The report contravenes WHO media guidelines and carries substantial risks for the population while missing opportunities to draw on suicide prevention content. Research from many ecological studies from elsewhere in the world suggests that many lives could be saved each year in India through improved media reporting. There is however, scarce evidence and we do not know what effects guideline oriented reporting will have in the very different context of India . We therefore propose a multiple group randomised controlled trial to assess the protective effects of exposure to educative suicide content in the print media in India on beliefs about refraining from suicide as well as on knowledge, attitudes and behavioural outcomes. This will be the first such experiment in South Asia and promises to have a profound impact on media guidelines or practices in the region and consequently a meaningful reduction in suicide rates |