Review of the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training Program ...

Intervention competencies increased
ASIST trainees in Australia, who responded to two taped scenarios of a person at risk, demonstrated
significantly improved understanding of scenario issues, assessment of suicide risk, perceptions of the
unfolding process, and knowledge about how an effective suicide intervention strategy might be applied
to the situation, compared to pretest understanding (Turley, et al., 2000).
Trainees did better in simulated interventions
ASIST trainees in Alberta, Canada, performed significantly better in simulated suicide interventions than
those in a comparison group (Tierney, 1994). The author concluded that
Intervention competencies were improved by the workshop experience. Participants were
demonstrably better able to make direct inquiries regarding the existence of suicidal ideation and
behaviors, to expand on suicide-related material, to assess factors related to risk, to [bring to the]
surface and work with ambivalence, and to develop direct, specific, mutually agreed upon action plans
for the prevention of immediate suicidal behavior as demonstrated in simulated interventions (pps. 74-
75).
In addition to doing better in simulated interventions, ASIST trainees also significantly improved their
suicide-specific helping scores (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Suicide helping scores improved after ASIST (Tierney, 1994)
Ability to identify risk level increased
U.S. Air Force personnel demonstrated significantly improved ability to identify risk factors and evaluate
risk level, based upon four risk scenarios, after ASIST training (Illich, 2004).
3.5 Behavior change outcomes for ASIST training
Behaviors are observable actions, self-reports of actions, or records of actions on the part of people,
such as reports of interventions or records of hospital admissions. While suicide attempts and deaths are
behaviors, because of their importance, they have been given a category of their own.
Ultimately, it is the hope of ASIST training to change behaviors—first by increasing the number and quality
of suicide interventions then, subsequently, in suicidal behaviors.
18 Review of the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training Program (ASIST) LivingWorks Education