Evaluation of a visual metaphor of suicide risk factors: Results from a pilot randomized controlled trial in psychology students

Abstract

Background: Although comprehensive knowledge of suicide risk assessment is fundamental, training programs for such an essential skill often include passive and didactic methods that may not facilitate recall. Objectives: To examine the efficacy of a recently published novel visual metaphor (VM) for teaching suicide risk factors as an adjunct to traditional teaching methods in a group of novice learners. Methods: A pilot non-blinded randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted. 22 first-year undergraduate psychology students were randomly assigned to either a control group, where they received traditional teaching (TT) or an intervention group, where they received traditional teaching and the visual metaphor (TT+VM). Participants then completed post-learning assessment including immediate free recall of suicide risk factors and knowledge application based on a clinical vignette. Cognitive load and participants’ satisfaction were also assessed. Descriptive statistics and the Mann-Whitney U test were used to analyze the data. Results: The TT+VM group demonstrated significantly better immediate free recall of suicide risk factors (mean= 14.56, SD= 3.2, p=.026), and superior application in the clinical vignette (mean= 14.33, SD= 1.00, p= .036). Furthermore, the TT+VM group also reported significantly less cognitive loading while learning suicide risk factors (mean= 3.44, SD= .88, p=.001) and significantly higher satisfaction levels (mean= 26.44, SD= 3.6, p=.001). The differences between the two groups on these domains ranged between medium and large effect sizes. Conclusions: Preliminary findings show that the use of TT+VM enhanced the learning of suicide risk factors. The VM could be a useful learning tool for novice learners but future large-scale studies are warranted to replicate this positive preliminary effect.