JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Suicide continues to be a leading cause of death for young people, and the 2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention has called for innovative approaches to suicide prevention. This strategy acknowledges the potential of the “Papageno” effect or the suicide preventative effect of stories of people who overcome suicide crises and find non-suicide alternatives.

Objective:

This pilot study’s objectives were to develop filmed interviews of young adults sharing their personal story of pursuing non-suicide alternatives (“Papageno” stories) and to examine their acceptability and appropriateness in a sample of young adults with a past month history of suicidal ideation.

Methods:

Six filmed interviews (5 “Papageno” story interviews and 1 active control interview) were videotaped. Study participants were recruited from Instagram and community organizations. Interviewees and participants were between the ages of 18 and 24. To be eligible for the study, participants responded “yes” to the question, “In the past 1 month, have you wished you were dead or wished you could go to sleep and not wake up?” Participants provided demographic information and responded to a brief mood introspection scale. They were subsequently instructed to watch the video, which was followed by the brief mood introspection scale and questions about the acceptability and helpfulness of the video. They were also asked 5 free-response questions regarding their likes, dislikes, suggestions, and overall reactions to the filmed interviews and whether they would watch it again.

Results:

We collected 3-4 participant responses per video for each of 5 different interview videos (total of 16 responses). Participants average mood change pre/post intervention (Papageno interview videos) on a scale ranging from -10 (very unpleasant) to 10 (very pleasant) was slightly positive (+2.3 SD 5.9). The videos were found to be generally acceptable and appropriate, and no participants reported feeling less likely to reach out for help when needed. Qualitative feedback yielded recommendations to shorten the length of the videos as well as to include multiple interviewees in future videos so that the audience has a better chance to identify with the interviewee.

Conclusions:

Filmed “Papageno” interviews show promise as a suicide prevention intervention. Next steps include incorporation of feedback to create a singular finalized video and a randomized controlled trial assessing the effects of the Papageno video. Clinical Trial: N/A