Development and Effectiveness of a School-Based Gatekeeper Training Program for Suicide Prevention in Elementary School Students

Objective: This study aimed to develop and examine the effectiveness of a school-based gatekeeper training program for suicide prevention among upper-grade elementary school students. The program aimed to enhance the identification of suicide warning signs and suicide-risk situations, as well as promote suicideprevention (gatekeeper) behaviors.Methods: To evaluate the effectiveness of a school-based gatekeeper training program, a pretest-posttest control group design was used. A total of 230 5th- and 6th-grade elementary school students from 12 classes were randomly assigned to either experimental (n = 114) or control (n = 116) group after a pretest. The experimental group participated in a one-session gatekeeper training program, while the control group received no intervention. Posttests were administered to both groups after program completion. The final analytic sample comprised participants from the experimental (n = 101) and control (n = 107) groups. The data were analyzed using independent-samples t-tests, two-way repeated measures ANOVA and ηp2 to estimate effect sizes.Results: The program comprised two core components: (a) training children to identify suicide warning signs and suicide-risk situations, and (b) fostering gatekeeper behaviors. Children in the experimental group demonstrated significant improvements in both the accurate identification of suicide warning signs/risk situations and the adoption of gatekeeper behaviors. In contrast, the control group exhibited no significant changes on either outcome.Conclusion: This study outlines the content and core components of a school-based gatekeeper program based on children’s developmental characteristics. Furthermore, the program significantly enhanced children’s identification of suicide warning signs and suicide-risk situations while promoting the adoption of gatekeeper behaviors.