Brief Interventions on Social Media to Reduce Suicide Risk (Intervention 1)

NCT06114875 | Terminated

• 1 other identifier: IRB19-1260
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 942
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This clinical trial is part of a series of brief interventions to reduce suicide risk in collaboration with the social media platform RallyPoint, a site specifically designed for U.S. servicemembers and veterans to connect with one another. In this RCT (Intervention 1: Peer Support), the investigators will test a psychoeducational intervention aimed at increasing peer responses to RallyPoint posts that a machine learning risk algorithm developed by the current team has identified for signs of distress (e.g., descriptions of suicidal thoughts and behaviors or other mental health concerns). In this intervention, the investigators will flag these distressed posts and prompt peers to reply to the posts by providing informational blurbs detailing helpful peer responses.

Conditions

Distress, Emotional; Suicide

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Number of replies to peers' posts

  The number of replies participants make to peers' social media posts.

  24 hrs post intervention

• Content in replies to peers' posts

  Whether or not replies contain content related to the intervention (e.g., providing information on mental health resources); the frequency of supportive language found in participants replies to peers' posts.

  24 hrs post intervention

• Engagement with intervention

  How often participants in the intervention arm click on the flags.

  24 hrs post intervention

Study Arms (2)

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Half of RallyPoint's active users will comprise the control group. The control group will not be shown the intervention flags and will see posts displayed as usual.

Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will not be actively recruited for this intervention. Rather, about half of active RallyPoint users (approximately 40,000 users; 80,000 users total) will be randomized to see the Intervention #1 psychoeducational pop-ups. The investigators will work with RallyPoint collaborators who will only display the distress flags to participants in the intervention group. RallyPoint users will not see flags appear on their own concerning posts, if they make any. The intervention will last up to six months (i.e., flags will be visible on concerning posts made over a six month period).

Behavioral: Peer support intervention

Interventions

Peer support intervention BEHAVIORAL

Flags will appear beside posts that the risk algorithm has identified as containing descriptions of distress or mental health concerns (these flags will not be visible to the original poster). Next to these flags, users will also see a brief blurb such as: "This person might be going through something difficult. To learn more about what to say to peers who may be experiencing distress, click this banner." RallyPoint users will then have the option of clicking on these flags, where they will be directed to a psychoeducational information page on how to provide support to peers who may be experiencing distress.

Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Individuals who are active users on the social media site RallyPoint.

You may not qualify if:

• Individuals who are not active users on the social media site RallyPoint.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Harvard University: lead

Study Sites (1)

RallyPoint Networks, Inc

Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Suicide

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Self-Injurious Behavior; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 30, 2023
• First Posted: November 2, 2023
• Study Start: November 20, 2023
• Primary Completion: March 14, 2025
• Study Completion: March 14, 2025
• Last Updated: August 13, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)