Piloting a Film-Based Suicide Prevention Intervention for Black Middle School Students: Preliminary Findings from a RCT In Chicago

BACKGROUND: Several reports confirm that Black youth in the U.S. have experienced a staggering increase in deaths by suicide over the past two decades. These trends are particularly pronounced in Chicago where findings from a 2024 study revealed that a significantly greater proportion of Black youth were dying by suicide earlier than other race and ethnic groups in the region. While existing youth suicide interventions may include Black adolescents in their sample, many do not intentionally probe for or measure culturally salient psychological experiences that assess suicide risk among this population. Our study, therefore, presents preliminary findings from a pilot suicide prevention intervention designed for Black youth in Chicago that directly aims to redress these concerns.

METHOD: We recruited a pilot sample of (n = 73) 6th - 8th grade students enrolled at four schools in Chicago. Schools were located in predominantly Black neighborhoods on the city’s South Side. Two schools were randomly assigned to receive the Signs of Suicide program, while the two other schools received the new culturally adapted suicide prevention intervention designed for Black youth that was developed by our team. Students in both conditions spent one class session viewing film-based vignettes that model strategies for recognizing suicide warning signs. Students completed pre-test and post-test measures to assess potential differences in mental health outcomes over time. We used t-test and chi-square tests to measure differences between and within-groups at Time 1 and Time 2. Further, we applied linear regression tests to measure associations between racial identity constructs and depressive symptoms, followed by implementing logistic regression tests to measure associations between key study variables and suicidal ideation.

RESULTS: Students reported significantly fewer depressive symptoms (measured using the PHQ-9 modified for adolescents) and less suicidal ideation across both conditions at Time 2. Notably, Black girls (M = 3.5, SD = 1.42) used social media for more hours each day relative to their male peers (M = 2.77, SD = 1.45), t(79) = -2.22, p = 0.03. In addition, Black boys reported significantly higher scores on the racial identity measures of private regard (i.e., psychological closeness with other Black people) and public regard (i.e., students’ perceptions of how others view Black people). Linear regression results indicate that racial centrality was associated with significantly fewer depressive symptoms at Time 1 (β = -0.49, p <0.01), though public regard was linked to more depressive symptoms at Time 2 (β = 0.35, p=0.05).

CONCLUSION: Study findings show promising preliminary improvements in mental health outcomes across both conditions. Similarly, prioritizing the inclusion of culturally relevant measures like racial identity appear to be critically important during this developmental stage. The final wave of data (T3) will be collected in May 2026 and will be used to assess whether intervention findings hold at three-months post-test. Still, more place-based and context-specific research is needed to provide targeted supports for Black youth and to train social work professionals, clinicians, and researchers moving forward.