Veterans Coping Long-term With Active Suicide

Suicide is a leading cause of death for military personnel, and for the first time in
recorded history, rates of military suicides are exceeding civilian rates. Despite public and
patient health costs associated with suicidal ideation and behavior, existing efforts haven't
appreciably reduced rates of suicidal behavior in the military. Consequently, finding novel,
efficacious, and acceptable methods to reduce suicide behaviors is imperative. The Veteran's
Coping Long Term with Active Suicide Program (CLASP-VA) is a unique suicide reduction
intervention that directly targets high-risk patients at the time of hospital discharge. It
is one of the few empirically-developed and promising interventions (e.g., strong pilot data)
for individuals hospitalized for suicide behavior.

The primary objective of this study is to test the efficacy of the CLASP intervention
compared to a treatment as usual plus Safety Assessment and Follow-up Evaluation (SAFE)
control condition. Efficacy will be determined by primary outcomes including: number of
attempts, number of re-hospitalizations, severity, and chronicity of suicidal ideation. A
secondary objective is identifying the types of patients who receive the most benefit from
the CLASP-VA intervention.

Inclusion Criteria:

- suicide attempt or suicidal ideation with any methods, plan, and/or intent to make a
suicide attempt within 1 week of hospitalization

- age greater than 18

- have a telephone

- ability to speak, read, and understand spoken English sufficiently well to complete
the procedures of the study

Exclusion Criteria:

- long-term psychiatric disorder

- diagnosis of borderline personality disorder

- cognitive impairment which would interfere with adequate participation in the project
(MMSE <20)