Leveraging Video Vignettes and Social Media to Promote Safe Firearm Storage Among Veterans

NCT07756697 | Not Yet Recruiting DMC

• 2 other identifiers: HSR4-033-25MRD000496
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 654
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Family and friends are trusted by Veterans, and can play a vital role in supporting Veteran suicide prevention. Veterans are more likely to adopt secure firearm storage if their loved ones discuss firearm safety with them and if they are exposed to compelling personal stories. "Worried About a Veteran" (WAV) is an online resource that contains 13 powerful, video-based vignettes designed to empower loved ones to initiate life-saving conversations about safeguarding firearms in the homes of Veterans at risk for suicide. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of WAV in encouraging loved ones to discuss safe firearm storage with Veterans.

Conditions

Lethal Means Safety

Keywords

Firearms; Suicide Prevention; Lethal means safety; Veterans

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Discussions of safe firearm storage

  Yes/No question about whether they recently discussed safe firearm storage with a Veteran. Answering "Yes" indicates a better outcome. If they answer in the affirmative, they will be asked follow-up questions to gauge frequency, mode (e.g., by phone, text, in-person), length, number of Veterans, and outcome of the conversation(s) (i.e., behavior change). Higher frequency and longer length of conversations, larger number of Veterans spoken to, and behavior change indicate successful discussions of safe firearm storage.

  8 week follow-up

Secondary Outcomes (6)

• Firearm storage practices

  8 week follow-up

• Knowledge of firearm injury/suicide

  8 week follow-up

• Attitudes

  8 week follow-up

• Norms

  8 week follow-up

• Perceived behavioral control

  8 week follow-up

Study Arms (3)

Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

WAV videos

Behavioral: WAV videos

Inactive control

SHAM COMPARATOR

VA News videos

Behavioral: VA News videos

Active control

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

VA educational brochure on lethal means safety

Behavioral: VA LMS brochure

Interventions

WAV videos BEHAVIORAL

13 "Worried About a Veteran" video vignettes. The videos are brief (\< 3 minutes), professionally developed, and involve vignettes of Veterans' family members that teach warning signs of suicidal crisis, practical guidance for LMS, and how to collaboratively discuss lethal means and secure storage.

Intervention

VA News videos BEHAVIORAL

VA News videos range in topic, such as VA benefits, research highlights, and Veteran interest stories (e.g., Veteran hockey league). Videos will be current at the time of study launch and unrelated to firearms and suicide prevention.

Inactive control

VA LMS brochure BEHAVIORAL

2-page VA educational brochure on lethal means safety (LMS). The brochure is titled "Reducing Firearm and Other Household Safety Risks for Veterans and Their Families," and it provides information on the importance of reducing access to lethal means such as firearms and medications for individuals at risk of suicide.

Active control

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Living in U.S.
• Family member, caregiver, or friend of a Veteran
• Social contact at least once a week with a Veteran who possesses a household firearm, and
• Access to a household firearm

You may not qualify if:

• Not providing a valid phone number and email address
• No internet access
• Indication of duplicate study entry

Sponsors & Collaborators

• VA Office of Research and Development: lead

Study Sites (1)

VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, OR

Portland, Oregon, 97207-2964, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Suicide Prevention

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Suicide; Self-Injurious Behavior; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Study Officials

• Alan R. Teo, MD MS

  VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, OR

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Keeley R Blackie

CONTACT

Keeley.Blackie@va.gov

Aaron A Call

CONTACT

(503) 220-8262; Aaron.Call@va.gov

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: TRIPLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Information about study hypotheses will not be provided to participants, and the study biostatistician will be blinded.
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: FED
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: The investigators will randomly assign participants in a 1:1:1 allocation to intervention or one of the two control conditions using a block-randomization scheme without stratification. To maintain allocation concealment, the investigators will use random block sizes. The block-randomization schemes will be created using the R package, blockrand. Randomization will occur after baseline survey and assessments are completed, as our prior work with participants recruited via social has found this helpful to maintain balance in study arms. Following recommendations for blinding in behavioral interventions, the investigators will not provide information about study hypotheses to participants, and the study biostatistician will be blinded.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 6, 2026
• First Posted: August 11, 2026
• Study Start (Estimated): July 1, 2027
• Primary Completion (Estimated): February 25, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): February 25, 2029
• Last Updated: August 11, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)