A coach-supported, digital parenting programme for parents of adolescents at risk of suicide: pilot trial of acceptability, feasibility, validity and short-term effects.

BACKGROUND

Parents of adolescents facing suicidality play a crucial protective role, but often feel overwhelmed. The Partners in Parenting Plus - Suicide Prevention (PiP-SP+) programme is a co-designed, coach-supported, online parenting programme aimed to empower parents within their carer role to manage their adolescent's suicide risk.

AIMS: To evaluate PiP-SP+'s acceptability, feasibility, validity and short-term effects.

METHOD: Fifteen parents of adolescents aged 12-18 years, concerned about their adolescent's suicidality, participated in an open-label, non-randomised uncontrolled trial. Parents (n = 11) completed semi-structured interviews, exploring the programme's acceptability, feasibility and validity. Thirteen parents completed quantitative assessments of parental self-efficacy to respond to adolescent suicidality and non-suicidal self-injury, protective parenting behaviours, carer burden, parental distress, mental health support quality, family functioning, and adolescent anxiety and depressive symptoms at baseline and 120 days post baseline. Finally, nine adolescents of the participating parents self-reported anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms and perceptions of parental support at baseline and 120 days post baseline.

RESULTS

PiP-SP+ was an acceptable, feasible and valid intervention for parents. Significant baseline-to-post-intervention improvements were observed in parents' self-efficacy to respond to adolescent suicidality and non-suicidal self-injury, protective parenting behaviours, carer burden, parental distress and mental health support quality. No significant differences were reported in family functioning. Adolescents perceived increased parental support; both parents and adolescents reported reductions in adolescent anxiety symptoms. Although parents reported a significant decrease in adolescent depressive symptoms, adolescents did not.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings support the value of undertaking an appropriately powered, randomised controlled trial to confirm these pilot findings.