2013/07/25 by Madelyn S. Gould, Wendi Cross, Anthony R. Pisani +3 · 3 citations
Psychology · #Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development #Mental Health Treatment and Access #Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
paper · doi:10.1111/sltb.12049
openalex publication_date 2013/07/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
We examined the impact of the implementation of Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) across the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline's national network of crisis hotlines. Data were derived from 1,507 monitored calls from 1,410 suicidal individuals to 17 Lifeline centers in 2008-2009. Callers were significantly more likely to feel less depressed, less suicidal, less overwhelmed, and more hopeful by the end of calls handled by ASIST-trained counselors. Few significant changes in ASIST-trained counselors' interventions emerged; however, improvements in callers' outcomes were linked to ASIST-related counselor interventions, including exploring reasons for living and informal support contacts. ASIST training did not yield more comprehensive suicide risk assessments.