Can demonstration enhance the effects of an online risk assessment training workshop?

Despite the evidence that suicide risk assessment training is necessary only 40-50% of psychology programs offer risk assessment training (Granello & Juhnke, 2010). In the present study an online suicide risk assessment and safety plan training workshop for graduate students in the field of psychology was investigated. Participants were randomly assigned to the control condition (lecture) or the treatment condition (lecture + demonstration). Measures of declarative knowledge of suicide risk and protective factors, application to clinical scenarios, and risk assessment and management self-efficacy scales were administered before and after completion of the workshop. Two way repeated measures ANOVA's were conducted with repeated time measures to evaluate the Time X Condition interaction. While there was a significant main effect of time on all three dependent variables, there was no significant time X condition interaction. In contrast to predictions, the added component of a demonstration did not result in greater improvements in application to clinical scenario multiple choice questions or risk assessment and management self-efficacy. Post hoc moderation analysis revealed demonstration enhanced the effects of knowledge acquisition and assessment of clinical scenarios for individuals who reported the training was less relevant to their current work. Implications of findings and directions of further research are discussed.