Citation

O'Neill JC, Marraccini ME, Bledsoe SE, Knotek SE, Tabori AV. Sch. Psychol. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

School of Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/spq0000331

PMID

31424242

Abstract

Suicide is a leading cause of death of school-aged youth, with adolescent and young adult populations considered to be most at risk for suicide clusters and contagion effects. Suicide clusters have been documented in school districts across the United States, though the degree to which schools are prepared to provide postvention services in the wake of a suicide is presently unclear. The current study sought to ascertain school psychologists' training, experiences and access to school district protocols in general postvention, and specifically in suicide contagion effect prevention. Perceptions of suicide postvention knowledge and self-efficacy from 111 school psychologists in the state of North Carolina were assessed using the Perceived Postvention Competency Survey. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were conducted to identify associations between school psychologist characteristics and perceived competency. More than half of respondents reported limited knowledge, preparedness, and confidence in suicide postvention, and even lower degrees of competency in preventing suicide contagion effects. Formal training in postvention and years worked were significantly associated with both perceived knowledge and self-efficacy. Recommendations to enhance school psychologists' postvention competence are offered, and directions for future research to expand upon this preliminary work are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Language: en