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Don’t Invite Everyone! Training Variables Impacting the Effectiveness of QPR Trainings

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Abstract

Gatekeeper trainings have been increasingly utilized in response to rising suicide rates in youths. However, the extent to which common factors inherent to gatekeeper trainings impact training outcomes is largely understudied. As such, the present study explored how factors such as training size and trainer engagement abilities influenced trainee participation and outcomes (i.e. changes in attitudes, perceived behavioral control (PBC), and knowledge regarding suicide prevention). All trainees participated in a gatekeeper training; trainers were not randomly assigned. Mediation and moderation analyses were completed using the PROCESS macro for SPSS (Hayes in Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: a regression-based approach, Guilford Press, New York, 2013). Trainee participation in a training was examined as a mediator of the relationship between the training size and training outcomes, while trainer engagement was examined as a moderator of the relationship between size of training and trainee participation. Size of training was significantly related to lower changes in participant knowledge, along with lower trainee participation in gatekeeper trainings. Trainee participation significantly mediated the relationship between size of training, attitudes, and PBC. Additionally, trainer engagement significantly moderated the association between size of training and trainee participation. The results of this study suggest that general gatekeeper training-related variables may influence participant outcomes, specifically through trainee participation.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (Grant Number 1U79SM061748-01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of South Florida, Tampa, USA

    Amanda L. Peterson, Maureen F. Monahan, Ansley M. Bender & Marc S. Karver

  2. University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA

    Kim Gryglewicz

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  1. Amanda L. Peterson
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  2. Maureen F. Monahan
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Correspondence to Amanda L. Peterson.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the University of South Florida (Pro00019538) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Peterson, A.L., Monahan, M.F., Bender, A.M. et al. Don’t Invite Everyone! Training Variables Impacting the Effectiveness of QPR Trainings. Adm Policy Ment Health 48, 343–353 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-020-01078-3

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