Banca de DEFESA: Hareli Fernanda Garcia Cecchin

Uma banca de DEFESA de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : Hareli Fernanda Garcia Cecchin
DATE: 20/10/2022
TIME: 14:00
LOCAL: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83297696747?pwd=ZThEQ1pZTTFvYmswUlgzejVBVk9KQT09 (ID da reunião: 832 9769
TITLE:

Wings for Adulthood - Building a Suicide Prevention Program for College Students

KEY WORDS:

suicide prevention; young people; university students; intervention mapping

PAGES: 320
BIG AREA: Ciências Humanas
AREA: Psicologia
SUMMARY:

Suicide is a serious public health problem, being the fourth leading cause of mortality
among young people aged 15 to 29 years in the world. However, research in this field is
still incipient in Brazil, which indicates the need to develop prevention programs
scientifically based on the national context. The objective of this thesis was to develop
the core components of intervention for the preventing suicide among university students
from a needs assessment based on evidence from the literature and the local context. This
thesis is a quantitative-qualitative study based on the Intervention Mapping approach.
The main questions that guided the research were: what do the systematic literature
reviews report on predictors of efficacy, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of programs
for suicide prevention of university students? What are the risk and protective factors for
the suicide of university students? What are the barriers, facilitators, and social actors
involved in the help-seeking behavior of university students? What elements can support
the successful implementation of an intervention for the suicide prevention of university
students? What should be the goals, expected outcomes, and core components of an
empirical evidence-based suicide prevention intervention? The research was developed
through six studies carried out at a university in the North region of Brazil. Chapter 1
presents a scoping review of the findings of systematic reviews and meta-analyses
regarding the efficacy, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of suicide prevention
programs for university students. The results show that the programs have been
developed for 30 years worldwide. They are viable and potent for increasing knowledge
about suicide and its prevention, self-efficacy, short-term attitudes toward suicide, and
the behavior of seeking help and binding to treatment. These interventions are also
effective in reducing suicidal ideation and consummate suicide. In chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5,
evidence from the local context was examined through interviews with multiple actors
(students, course coordinators, administrative technicians, and health professionals),
whose results were analyzed via Content Analysis and simple descriptive statistics.
Chapter 2 investigated the risk factors for the suicide of university students. The most
frequent categories from the point of view of young people were mental disorders in
youth, income inequality and mental suffering, mental disorders in childhood or
adolescence, and difficulty in performing developmental tasks of the young adult.
Chapter 3 investigated the factors that protect university students from suicide. The most

frequent categories from the point of view of young people were social support,
psychological treatment, physical, artistic, and leisure activities and social engagement.
Chapter 4 analyzed the barriers, facilitators, and social actors involved in the professional
help-seeking behavior of university students. The findings suggested that the low
perceived need is the main barrier and mental health literacy is the main facilitator of the
behavior of seeking help. The social actors most involved in the help-seeking behavior
are friend/classmate, intimate partner, and teacher. Chapter 5 investigated which elements
can support the successful implementation of an intervention for the suicide prevention of
university students from the Context and Implementation of Complex Interventions
(CICI) model. The findings indicated care during various stages of the process and
attention to the safety of the place of care. The intervention suggestions with the highest
response percentage were improving the teacher-student relationship, offering thematic
groups and conversation groups, and conducting mental health campaigns. Chapter 6
described the development of the core components of intervention for suicide prevention.
Based on needs assessment results, the central intervention framework was designed for
university students, capable of favoring Autonomy, Social Support, (search for)
Professional Help, and Belonging, and was called Wings for Adulthood. The central
framework of the intervention was based on peer education and mentoring, combining the
four mentoring roles: psychological support, support for career choice, academic support,
and the provision of a model to be followed. The six studies support the thesis's main
argument, which demonstrates that suicide can be prevented in the school environment
through health education initiatives. In addition, studies showed that friends, the preferred
source of help, are also prevention agents capable of mobilizing both the behavior of
seeking professional help and the development of autonomy and belonging in peers.
Future studies should implement and test the effectiveness of this intervention. This thesis
is expected to encourage the development of new suicide prevention programs for
university students and young people.

BANKING MEMBERS:
Externo à Instituição - EDUARDO AUGUSTO REMOR - UFRGS
Externa à Instituição - VANESSA BARBOSA ROMERA LEME - UERJ
Interna - 1489228 - LARISSA POLEJACK BRAMBATTI
Presidente - 1713775 - SHEILA GIARDINI MURTA
Interna - 2191451 - SILVIA RENATA MAGALHAES LORDELLO BORBA SANTOS