(PS13-23) Reducing Help-seeking Stigma in Military Service Members at Elevated Suicide Risk: A Randomized Control Trial

Background:  Death by suicide occurs more frequently among U.S. military service members than in the general population. Though efficacious interventions for suicide risk exist, help-seeking stigma poses a barrier to connecting high-risk individuals to mental health treatment. The present study examined the efficacy of web-based intervention, Cognitive Bias Modification for Help-Seeking (CBM-HS) on reducing help-seeking stigma among military service members.

Methods:  In this randomized control trial, 68 participants were randomized to receive CBM-HS, psychoeducation, or a CBM-Placebo (i.e., a sham CBM condition). Participants were current active-duty U.S. military service members with a lifetime history of suicidal ideation and current elevated suicide risk factors. Across conditions, participants completed three 15-minute web-based tasks over three weeks and completed self-report assessments at baseline, mid-intervention, post-intervention, and two-month follow-up.

Results: Using a two by three repeated-measures ANOVA, we found that participants across conditions declined in perceived-stigma [F(1,58) = 27.30, p < .001] and self-stigma [F(1,58) = 4.39, p = .041] throughout the RCT. Treatment condition may have affected the decline in perceived-stigma scores [F(2,58) = 2.45, p = .095] but not self-stigma [F(2,58) = 0.90, p = .411]. A follow-up comparison showed that CBM-HS caused a significantly more significant decline in perceived-stigma across the RCT period than psychoeducation or the CBM-Placebo [t(59) = 2.16, p = .035, d = 0.64).

Discussion:  Results suggest that inexpensive and scalable online intervention can decrease perceived-stigma of help-seeking for military service members at high suicide risk. Further research is needed to develop interventions targeting self-stigma of help-seeking.