Suicide PreventionCSNLNCT06364332
Chatsafe Netherlands: Improving Safe Suicide Communication for Young People on Social Media
A study testing Social Media campaign in people with Suicide Prevention and Communication, run by 113 Suicide Prevention at 1 site in Netherlands.
Trial summary
Suicide is the leading cause of death among young people (YP) aged 10 to 25 years in the Netherlands. In addition, YP report high rates of suicidal ideation (16%). While suicidal behavior is a complex phenomenon with many factors and causes, the role of social media is becoming more prominent, especially for YP. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 16 to 25 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Suicide Prevention, Communication, Social Media
- What is being tested?
- Social Media campaign
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 400 participants
- Where
- 1 siteNetherlands
- Study dates
- 8 Apr 2024to Mar 2025
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 16 to 25 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child, Adult
Who may be able to join
- age between 16-25 years,
- living in the Netherlands and speaking Dutch,
- see themselves as active social media user,
- is willing to share mobile phone number with the research team.
Who cannot join
- None, if participants meet the inclusion criteria, they can principally participate in the study; having suicidal ideation is not a reason for exclusion. An extensive safety procedure is drawn up, which describes how the safety of the participants is monitored.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
Netherlands1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
113 Suicide Prevention
Amsterdam, North Holland, 1105 BP
Elke Elzinga, dr, 020 3113883, e.elzinga@113.nl
Saskia Mérelle, dr, 020 3113883, s.merelle@113.nl
About this study
Official title: Testing the Impact of #ChatsafeNL in a Randomized Controlled Trial: Does a Social Media Intervention Improve Dutch Young People's Safe Online Communication About Suicide?
Suicide is the leading cause of death among young people (YP) aged 10 to 25 years in the Netherlands. In addition, YP report high rates of suicidal ideation (16%). While suicidal behavior is a complex phenomenon with many factors and causes, the role of social media is becoming more prominent, especially for YP. Social media has been shown to be a source where YP can find support, but it's also a place where suicidal behavior is glorified or normalized, which can be triggering or harmful to other social media consumers.
The #Chatsafe guidelines were developed by Orygen Australia to better equip young people to communicate safely about suicide on social media. These guidelines are supported by a social media campaign to make the content of the guidelines more accessible to them. The #Chatsafe intervention consists of both the guidelines and the social media campaign. A small-scale Australian feasibility study showed promising results in terms of the acceptance and safety of the campaign, and safety regarding communicating about suicide on social media platforms. Currently, in Australia it is tested to what extent these results hold up in a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) (Robinson et al., 2023).
With funding from the Dutch National Agenda for Suicide Prevention, a contextualized replication study is conducted. The aim of this study is to determine whether the #Chatsafe intervention has an effect on the way in which Dutch YP communicate online about suicide.
Read the detailed description
The #Chatsafe guidelines were developed by Orygen to better equip YP to communicate safely about suicide on social media. These guidelines are supported by a national social media campaign to make the content of the guidelines more accessible to the target group. The #Chatsafe intervention consists of both the guidelines and a social media campaign. A small-scale Australian feasibility study showed promising results in terms of acceptance and safety of the campaign, as well as the willingness of young people to intervene against suicide, their perceived self-efficacy, confidence, and safety regarding communicating about suicide on social media platforms. To test whether the effects hold up in a controlled setting, a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) is conducted.
With funding from the Dutch National Agenda for Suicide Prevention, commissioned by 113 Suicide Prevention, the #Chatsafe campaign is being translated to fit the Dutch context through a co-design process involving end users. To investigate whether this campaign has the intended effect in the Netherlands, a contextualized replication study into the efficacy of ChatsafeNL (Chatsafe Netherlands) is conducted in a controlled setting. The aim of the research is to determine whether the #ChatsafeNL intervention affects how YP, both with and without suicidal ideation, communicate online about suicide. A group receiving #ChatsafeNL content (intervention group) will be compared with a group who received content about sexual health and wellbeing (control group).
In the current study, the efficacy of the #ChatsafeNL intervention is tested in an RCT. The intervention condition (#ChatsafeNL social media intervention) is compared with a control intervention (sexual health campaign). The intervention phase lasts 8 weeks. Participants will be recruited over a period of 6-12 months.
Participants are asked to complete a self-report questionnaire at three different times, namely prior to the intervention (baseline, T1), immediately after the 8-week intervention (T2) and 4 weeks post-intervention (T3). During the intervention period, participants receive campaign content every week for 8 weeks. They are offered a short questionnaire to monitor safety and assess the evaluation of the content.
Initially, the campaign is developed for Instagram. This may expand to other social media platforms later on.
- Conditions
- Suicide Prevention, Communication, Social Media
- Being tested
- Social Media campaign
- Keywords
- Suicide prevention, Suicidal Ideation, Communication, Social Media
- Medical subject headings
- Suicide Prevention, Communication, Suicidal Ideation
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Social Media campaignBehavioural
Participants receive content three times a week; in total 24 pieces of content in 8 weeks. The content can consist of one or more photos or images with a caption (explanation in text).
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Intervention | Experimental | #Chatsafe suicide prevention content. Receives: Behavioral: Social Media campaign |
| Control | Active comparator | Sexual health and wellbeing content Receives: Behavioral: Social Media campaign |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Safe communication about suicide online
This outcome measure was specially developed for the Chatsafe Australia study, it will be measured by the purpose-designed #Chatsafe online safety questionnaire (Robinson et al., 2023) immediately after intervention. It is based upon an adapted version of the Perceived Safety Questionnaire.
It consists of 4 different subscales, for each of which a sum score will be calculated: general use, seeing content, responding to content and interacting with content on social media. Overall sum score on communicating about self-harm and suicide on social media (25 items) ranges from 25-100, where higher scores reflect more safe communication.
In addition, vignettes will be used to calculate scores concerning: sharing experiences of suicide online score, responding online to someone at risk and communication online about a suicide that has occurred (range 53-265). Here, also higher scores reflect more safe communication.
Measured: Before, immediately after intervention and at 4 week follow up
Secondary outcomes (6)
Confidence when communicating about suicide online
measured by the #Chatsafe online safety questionnaire
Measured: Before, immediately after intervention and at 4 week follow up
Willingness to intervene against suicide online
measured via the Willingness to Intervene Questionnaire
Measured: Before, immediately after intervention and at 4 week follow up
Self-efficacy online
measured by the Internet Self-Efficacy Questionnaire
Measured: Before, immediately after intervention and at 4 week follow up
Safety of the #ChatsafeNL materials
measured by the weekly evaluation survey
Measured: Before, immediately after intervention and at 4 week follow up
Acceptability of the #ChatsafeNL intervention
measured by the evaluation questions
Measured: Before, immediately after intervention and at 4 week follow up
Safety of the #ChatsafeNL intervention
This is measured, among other things, by the number (or absence of) adverse events during the study period, such as a response to item 9 of the Patient Health Questionnaire that indicates they experience suicidal ideation, a response to the weekly questionnaire indicating that participants find the content disturbing, responses to the questionnaire that indicates that certain campaign content distressed participants and whether the research team was contacted by respondents to report distress or risk of self-harm or suicide.
Measured: Before, immediately after intervention and at 4 week follow up
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted15 Apr 2024
- Study start8 Apr 2024
- Primary completionDec 2024 (estimated)
- Study completionMar 2025 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (3)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Suicide PreventionStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Model description
- Participants are randomized to the intervention or the control group using block randomization with varying block sizes (block sizes vary from 2 to 16). The distribution key will be 1:1. The randomization schedule is computer generated by a researcher who will not be part of the analysing researchers.
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Investigator
- Enrolment
- 400 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- 113 Suicide Prevention
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Orygen, Mind
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Saskia Mérelle, dr, Principal investigator, 113 Suicide Prevention
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06364332
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- ChatsafeNL
- Other IDs
- 2023.0348
- Acronym
- CSNL
- Status last verified
- Apr 2024
- First submitted
- 2 Apr 2024
- Last updated
- 1 May 2024
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No: The data will be made available upon reasonable request
Publications
Robinson J, La Sala L, Cooper C, Spittal M, Rice S, Lamblin M, Brown E, Nolan H, Battersby-Coulter R, Rajaram G, Thorn P, Pirkis J, May-Finlay S, Silenzio V, Skehan J, Krysinska K, Bellairs-Walsh I. Testing the Impact of the #chatsafe Intervention on Young People's Ability to Communicate Safely About Suicide on Social Media: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2023 Feb 17;12:e44300. doi: 10.2196/44300.
PubMed 36800220La Sala L, Pirkis J, Cooper C, Hill NTM, Lamblin M, Rajaram G, Rice S, Teh Z, Thorn P, Zahan R, Robinson J. Acceptability and Potential Impact of the #chatsafe Suicide Postvention Response Among Young People Who Have Been Exposed to Suicide: Pilot Study. JMIR Hum Factors. 2023 May 19;10:e44535. doi: 10.2196/44535.
PubMed 37204854La Sala L, Teh Z, Lamblin M, Rajaram G, Rice S, Hill NTM, Thorn P, Krysinska K, Robinson J. Can a social media intervention improve online communication about suicide? A feasibility study examining the acceptability and potential impact of the #chatsafe campaign. PLoS One. 2021 Jun 15;16(6):e0253278. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253278. eCollection 2021.
PubMed 34129610
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 1 May 2024. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Testing the Impact of #ChatsafeNL in a Randomized Controlled Trial: Does a Social Media Intervention Improve Dutch Young People's Safe Online Communication About Suicide?
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06364332
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- CSNL / ChatsafeNL
- Conditions
- Suicide Prevention, Communication, Social Media
- Keywords
- Suicide prevention, Suicidal Ideation, Communication, Social Media
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Unknown status
- Enrolment
- 400 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- 113 Suicide PreventionUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Orygen, Mind
- Study start
- 8 Apr 2024 (actual)
- Primary completion
- Dec 2024 (estimated)
- Study completion
- Mar 2025 (estimated)
- First posted
- 15 Apr 2024 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Suicide is the leading cause of death among young people (YP) aged 10 to 25 years in the Netherlands. In addition, YP report high rates of suicidal ideation (16%). While suicidal behavior is a complex phenomenon with many factors and causes, the role of social media is becoming more prominent, especially for YP. Social media has been shown to be a source where YP can find support, but it's also a place where suicidal behavior is glorified or normalized, which can be triggering or harmful to other social media consumers.
The #Chatsafe guidelines were developed by Orygen Australia to better equip young people to communicate safely about suicide on social media. These guidelines are supported by a social media campaign to make the content of the guidelines more accessible to them. The #Chatsafe intervention consists of both the guidelines and the social media campaign. A small-scale Australian feasibility study showed promising results in terms of the acceptance and safety of the campaign, and safety regarding communicating about suicide on social media platforms. Currently, in Australia it is tested to what extent these results hold up in a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) (Robinson et al., 2023).
With funding from the Dutch National Agenda for Suicide Prevention, a contextualized replication study is conducted. The aim of this study is to determine whether the #Chatsafe intervention has an effect on the way in which Dutch YP communicate online about suicide.
Detailed description
The #Chatsafe guidelines were developed by Orygen to better equip YP to communicate safely about suicide on social media. These guidelines are supported by a national social media campaign to make the content of the guidelines more accessible to the target group. The #Chatsafe intervention consists of both the guidelines and a social media campaign. A small-scale Australian feasibility study showed promising results in terms of acceptance and safety of the campaign, as well as the willingness of young people to intervene against suicide, their perceived self-efficacy, confidence, and safety regarding communicating about suicide on social media platforms. To test whether the effects hold up in a controlled setting, a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) is conducted.
With funding from the Dutch National Agenda for Suicide Prevention, commissioned by 113 Suicide Prevention, the #Chatsafe campaign is being translated to fit the Dutch context through a co-design process involving end users. To investigate whether this campaign has the intended effect in the Netherlands, a contextualized replication study into the efficacy of ChatsafeNL (Chatsafe Netherlands) is conducted in a controlled setting. The aim of the research is to determine whether the #ChatsafeNL intervention affects how YP, both with and without suicidal ideation, communicate online about suicide. A group receiving #ChatsafeNL content (intervention group) will be compared with a group who received content about sexual health and wellbeing (control group).
In the current study, the efficacy of the #ChatsafeNL intervention is tested in an RCT. The intervention condition (#ChatsafeNL social media intervention) is compared with a control intervention (sexual health campaign). The intervention phase lasts 8 weeks. Participants will be recruited over a period of 6-12 months.
Participants are asked to complete a self-report questionnaire at three different times, namely prior to the intervention (baseline, T1), immediately after the 8-week intervention (T2) and 4 weeks post-intervention (T3). During the intervention period, participants receive campaign content every week for 8 weeks. They are offered a short questionnaire to monitor safety and assess the evaluation of the content.
Initially, the campaign is developed for Instagram. This may expand to other social media platforms later on.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (investigator)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- Participants are randomized to the intervention or the control group using block randomization with varying block sizes (block sizes vary from 2 to 16). The distribution key will be 1:1. The randomization schedule is computer generated by a researcher who will not be part of the analysing researchers.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Intervention | Experimental | Behavioral: Social Media campaign#Chatsafe suicide prevention content. |
| Control | Active comparator | Behavioral: Social Media campaignSexual health and wellbeing content |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 16 to 25 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult
Key inclusion criteria (4 listed)
- age between 16-25 years,
- living in the Netherlands and speaking Dutch,
- see themselves as active social media user,
- is willing to share mobile phone number with the research team.
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- None, if participants meet the inclusion criteria, they can principally participate in the study; having suicidal ideation is not a reason for exclusion. An extensive safety procedure is drawn up, which describes how the safety of the participants is monitored.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Social Media campaignParticipants receive content three times a week; in total 24 pieces of content in 8 weeks. The content can consist of one or more photos or images with a caption (explanation in text). | Behavioural | Control, Intervention |
Primary outcome
Safe communication about suicide online
Time frame: Before, immediately after intervention and at 4 week follow up
This outcome measure was specially developed for the Chatsafe Australia study, it will be measured by the purpose-designed #Chatsafe online safety questionnaire (Robinson et al., 2023) immediately after intervention. It is based upon an adapted version of the Perceived Safety Questionnaire. It consists of 4 different subscales, for each of which a sum score will be calculated: general use, seeing content, responding to content and interacting with content on social media. Overall sum score on communicating about self-harm and suicide on social media (25 items) ranges from 25-100, where higher scores reflect more safe communication. In addition, vignettes will be used to calculate scores concerning: sharing experiences of suicide online score, responding online to someone at risk and communication online about a suicide that has occurred (range 53-265). Here, also higher scores reflect more safe communication.
6 secondary outcomes
Confidence when communicating about suicide online
Time frame: Before, immediately after intervention and at 4 week follow up
Willingness to intervene against suicide online
Time frame: Before, immediately after intervention and at 4 week follow up
Self-efficacy online
Time frame: Before, immediately after intervention and at 4 week follow up
Safety of the #ChatsafeNL materials
Time frame: Before, immediately after intervention and at 4 week follow up
Acceptability of the #ChatsafeNL intervention
Time frame: Before, immediately after intervention and at 4 week follow up
Safety of the #ChatsafeNL intervention
Time frame: Before, immediately after intervention and at 4 week follow up
Results and safety
Results are not available in the source record.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 1 May 2024.
- Background: PubMed 36800220Robinson J, La Sala L, Cooper C, Spittal M, Rice S, Lamblin M, Brown E, Nolan H, Battersby-Coulter R, Rajaram G, Thorn P, Pirkis J, May-Finlay S, Silenzio V, Skehan J, Krysinska K, Bellairs-Walsh I. Testing the Impact of the #chatsafe Intervention on Young People's Ability to Communicate Safely About Suicide on Social Media: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2023 Feb 17;12:e44300. doi: 10.2196/44300.
- Background: PubMed 37204854La Sala L, Pirkis J, Cooper C, Hill NTM, Lamblin M, Rajaram G, Rice S, Teh Z, Thorn P, Zahan R, Robinson J. Acceptability and Potential Impact of the #chatsafe Suicide Postvention Response Among Young People Who Have Been Exposed to Suicide: Pilot Study. JMIR Hum Factors. 2023 May 19;10:e44535. doi: 10.2196/44535.
- Background: PubMed 34129610La Sala L, Teh Z, Lamblin M, Rajaram G, Rice S, Hill NTM, Thorn P, Krysinska K, Robinson J. Can a social media intervention improve online communication about suicide? A feasibility study examining the acceptability and potential impact of the #chatsafe campaign. PLoS One. 2021 Jun 15;16(6):e0253278. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253278. eCollection 2021.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No. The data will be made available upon reasonable request
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Saskia Mérelle, dr principal investigator
113 Suicide Prevention
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Social Media campaign in people with Suicide Prevention and Communication, run by 113 Suicide Prevention at 1 site in Netherlands.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: status not confirmed, as of the sponsor's last update on 1 May 2024. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in Netherlands. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
Results are not available in the source record.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Elke Elzinga, dr (020 3113883, e.elzinga@113.nl), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Safe communication about suicide online (time frame: Before, immediately after intervention and at 4 week follow up). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT06364332, which also lists 3 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 1 May 2024.