Schools

Comprehensive suicide prevention programs often include gatekeeper training as a core component of a multifaceted approach. Evaluations of gatekeeper training have largely focused on the impact on gatekeepers, rather than on preventive effects for the targeted population. Evidence exists for the acceptability and efficacy of gatekeeper training across a broad range of settings for improving the knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy and perceived competence of gatekeepers in the short-term. The impact on help-seeking and suicidal behaviours is less clear and it is important to examine whether gatekeeper training does indeed have an effect on the suicide risk and behaviours of the people the intervention is ultimately targeted towards. This research bulletin summarises findings from controlled trials that have investigated the impact on suicidal behaviours in young people following the delivery of gatekeeper training.