Skip to content

Suicide Intervention for Alaska Native Youth

Comparative Effectiveness of Two Culturally-Centered Suicide Interventions for Alaska Native Youth

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05360888
Acronym
BeWeL
Enrollment
302
Registered
2022-05-04
Start date
2022-12-22
Completion date
2026-01-31
Last updated
2026-05-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Alaska Native Youth Aged 14 - 24, Alcohol Intoxication, Suicidal Ideation, Suicide, Attempted

Keywords

Alaska Native youth, suicide, prevention, culture

Brief summary

Two interventions will be delivered virtually to American Indian/Alaska Native youth who have been hospitalized with suicidal attempt, suicidal ideation, or associated risk behaviors, including alcohol-related injury.

Detailed description

The investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial whereby Alaska Native (AN) youth who are hospitalized for suicide risk will be randomly assigned to either Qungasvik/Tools for Life or Tools for Life + Motivational Interviewing Social Network (MISN) intervention after their baseline survey, and followed up at 3-, 6-, and 12 months. All youth will receive Tools for Life and two 30-minute virtual follow-up visits (at 2- and 6-weeks post intervention) focused on connectivity to culture and obtaining support from intergenerational social networks in their home communities. Half of the youth will also receive MISN in addition to Tools for Life. Both interventions will be delivered virtually by a wellness team comprised of Alaska Native community behavioral health aides, prevention specialists and/or Elders who function in their communities as natural healers.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALTools for Life

Tools for Life focuses on empowering youth to learn more about their culture and their identity.

BEHAVIORALTools for Life + MISN

Tools for Life focuses on empowering youth to learn more about their culture and their identity. MISN focuses on helping youth get support from their community and social networks.

Sponsors

RAND
Lead SponsorOTHER
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
CollaboratorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE

Intervention model description

Half of the participants will be randomly assigned to Tools for Life, and the other half will receive Tools for Life plus a Motivational Interviewing Social Network intervention (MISN) and two booster sessions approximately 2 and 6 weeks post-intervention.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
14 Years to 24 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Self-identify as Alaska Native youth * Between the ages of 14 and 24 * Admitted to the hospital for suicide attempt, ideation, or associated risk behaviors including alcohol-related injury or acute intoxication

Exclusion criteria

\-

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Suicide intent/riskChange from baseline to 3 monthsWe will use the Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale (SIDAS) \[0 = Never, 10 = Always\]
DepressionChange from baseline to 3 monthsPatient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) \[0 -not at all to 3-nearly every day\]
AnxietyChange from baseline to 3 monthsGeneralized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7) \[0 -not at all to 3-nearly every day\]
Frequency of alcohol useChange from baseline to 3 monthsNumber of days used in the past 30 days. \[ 0 to 30\]
Alcohol use consequencesChange from baseline to 3 monthsNumber of times in the past 3 months youth experience 4 different alcohol consequences \[0 = Never to 6 = 20 or more times\]

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Sobriety self-efficacyChange from baseline to 3 monthsThree items ask how sure youth are about staying sober from alcohol from 1= def drink to 5 = def not drink
Intentions to be sober from alcoholChange from baseline to 3 monthsYouth report on intentions to be sober in the next 6 months from 1 = def yes to 4 = def no
Social network compositionChange from baseline to 3 monthsParticipants will be asked to name 15 contacts ("alters") who are at least 18 years of age. Participants will rate each of the 15 people on the same set of questions with categorical response options (about demographics, relationship quality, likelihood to use drugs, etc.). For each participant, the selected responses will be summed across all of the network alters and divided by 15 to produce network composition percentages of the whole set of alters named by the participant (% of AI/ANs, % who engage in heavy drinking).
Social network structureChange from baseline to 3 monthsParticipants will rate the relationship strength between each of the 15 named alters. For each alter pair participants will rate if the two people know each other and, if yes, have individuals connected recently. Measures of network structure (i.e., network "connectedness") will be constructed from the set of evaluations for each participant. For example, network "density" will be constructed for the network overall, which is calculated by summing the number of alter pairs who know each other and dividing by the total number of possible ties among 15 alters (105). Individual alter "centrality" will be calculated by summing the number of connections each individual alter has with other alters in the network.
Time spent around peers who use alcoholChange from baseline to 3 monthsParticipants will report on how much time is spent around peers who drink from 0 = never to 3 = often
Awareness of connectednessChange from baseline to 3 monthsYouth report on feelings of connectedness to community, family and environment from 1 = strongly agree to 5 strongly disagree
Community protective factorsChange from baseline to 3 monthsYouth Community Protective Factors Scale. Youth report on feelings about different protective factors from 1 = strongly agree to 5 strongly disagree
Individual protective factorsChange from baseline to 3 monthsYouth report on feelings about different individual protective factors from 1 = strongly agree to 5 strongly disagree
Reasons for lifeChange from baseline to 3 monthsBrief Reasons for Life Scale from 1 not at all important to 5 very important
Reflective processesChange from baseline to 3 monthsThe Reflective Processes scale taps a culturally patterned type of awareness and youth report from from 1 = strongly agree to 5 strongly disagree

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: May 14, 2026