Undergraduate Students' Exposure, Knowledge, Utilization, and Intended Use of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Abstract

Suicide is a leading cause of death among college students. Crisis hotlines play a role in linking suicidal individuals to help. Despite leading to favorable outcomes, low utilization of crisis outlines has been reported. To explore exposure, knowledge, and utilization of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL) among a sample of university students; to determine if knowledge and perceived helpfulness of NSPL predict intent to use NSPL. The researcher surveyed 560 students attending a Midwestern university to assess knowledge of, and attitudes toward, the NSPL. Those who reported seeing the NSPL advert (50%) perceived the NSPL to be more helpful than those who had not seen the advert. Only 29% (n=160) were able to identify who would answer the NSPL (a trained, skilled counselor). Only 1% (n=4) reported utilization. Participants who reported past exposure to the NSPL advert reported higher levels of perceived helpfulness of the NSPL. Perceived helpfulness of the NSPL was a weak predictor of likelihood to use the NSPL. The study limitations include its small sample size; participants' likelihood to use the NSPL was assessed using independent symptoms. Further research is needed to identify college students' underlying attitudes toward the NSPL.