JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Suicide is the leading cause of death among Australians. One commonly cited explanation is the impact of social media, in particular the ways in which young people use social media to communicate about their own experiences and their exposure to suicide-related content posted by others. Guidelines to assist mainstream media report about suicide are widespread. However, until recently no guidelines existed that targeted either social media or young people. In response, we developed the #chatsafe guidelines and supporting social media campaign. Together the guidelines and campaign make up the #chatsafe intervention. The intervention was tested in a pilot study with positive results. However, the study was limited by the lack of control group.

Objective:

To assess the impact of the #chatsafe social media intervention on young people’s safety and confidence when communicating online about suicide.

Methods:

The study employs a pragmatic, parallel superiority randomised-controlled design. It will be conducted in accordance with the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials CONSORT Statement over an 18-month period with up to a 12-month recruitment and an 8-week intervention phase. Participants will be 400 young people aged 16-25 (200 per arm). Participants will be recruited via social media advertising and assessed at three time points: Time 1 - baseline; Time 2 - 8 weeks post-intervention commencement; and Time 3 – 4-weeks post intervention. They will also be asked to complete a weekly survey to monitor safety and to allow evaluation of each piece of social media content. The intervention comprises an 8-week social media campaign. It will take the form of social media posts shared on public Instagram profiles created for the purpose of this study. The intervention group will receive the #chatsafe suicide prevention content and the control group will receive sexual health content. Both groups will receive 24 pieces of content; three per week delivered to participants’ mobile phones via SMS. The primary outcome is safety when communicating online about suicide, as measured via the purpose designed #chatsafe Online Safety Questionnaire. Additional outcomes include willingness to intervene against suicide, internet self-efficacy, safety and acceptability.

Results:

Recruitment into the trial began in November 2022 and study completion is anticipated by June 2024.

Conclusions:

This will be the first RCT internationally to test the impact of a social media intervention designed to better equip young people to communicate safely online about suicide. Given the rising rates of youth suicide in Australia and the acceptability of social media among young people, incorporating social media-based interventions into the suicide prevention landscape is an obvious next step. This intervention, if effective, could also be extended to international settings thereby improving online safety for young people not just in Australia but globally. Clinical Trial: ACTRN12622001397707