Article
Evaluation of a Suicide Awareness Curriculum for High School Students

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Abstract

Suicide awareness programs have become increasingly commonplace in high school curricula, yet controversy exists over their risks and benefits. This study was designed to assess both positive and negative outcomes of a suicide awareness program for ninth graders. Students' knowledge, attitudes, coping styles, hopelessness, and helping behaviors were assessed 10 weeks after completion of a program. A Solomon four-groups design was used to examine pretest sensitization. The experimental group displayed small, but significantly greater, increases in certain coping strategies and knowledge; pretest sensitization and sex differences were also found to have a substantial effect. Hopelessness was not found to be associated with exposure to the suicide awareness curriculum.

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