Request for Information (RFI): Guidance for Opportunities to Examine the Long-Term and Cross-Over Effects of Preventive Interventions on Reducing Risk for Suicide Ideation and Behaviors

Notice Number: NOT-MH-19-021

Key Dates
Release Date : February 25, 2019
Response Date: April 08, 2019

Related Announcements
None

Issued by
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Purpose

Purpose

This request for Information (RFI) seeks input to identify: 1) completed prevention intervention data sets, including data sets with long-term outcomes, that contain measures, scales, and/or measurement items of suicide ideation and behaviors (SIB), in which SIB was not a focus of the study; 2) relevant currently funded prevention studies that have the capability of adding measures to examine long-term and/or cross-over effects, unanticipated beneficial effects, of the intervention on SIB; and 3) previously conducted prevention intervention trials that have the potential to conduct long-term follow-up (e.g., consent and ability to follow-up) to examine long-term and cross-over effects of the intervention in reducing risk for SIB, including suicide, in pre-adolescence through young adulthood.

Background

Suicide is a major public health problem, is the second leading cause of death among youth in the United States, and the rates for youth suicide continue to increase.A multi-pronged approach to suicide prevention is needed to effect change and there is good reason to believe that upstream prevention approaches-- intervening early in development, targeting proximal risk and protective factors-- can have an impact on SIB, including suicide, in childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood, may be an important strategy for addressing increasing youth suicide rates. Examining the long-term and cross-over effects of prevention trials implemented earlier in life would provide information regarding whether upstream approaches reduce risk for suicide ideation and behaviors, including suicide, in pre-adolescence through young adulthood.

Harmonizing completed data sets, supplementing existing studies with measures, and examining the long-term and cross-over effects of preventive interventions may be good approaches to answering questions about intervening early in development to reduce risk later in life for a low base rate behavior such as suicide and SIB.

Examples of potential studies that may be relevant in response to this RFI include but are not limited to:

  • Prevention trials implemented early in life (e.g., home visitation and new parent support programs) that can now examine SIB at later stages of development
  • Long-term follow-up of studies focused on the prevention of externalizing/internalizing disorders
  • Long-term follow-up of substance use prevention interventions to examine outcomes on SIB
  • Prevention trials focused on preventing interpersonal violence (bullying, abuse and neglect) in children, and/or ameliorating the consequences of interpersonal violence.
  • Follow-up of prevention trials focused on at-risk populations with multiple risk factors (e.g., children in foster care, children exposed to abuse and/or neglect, children of divorced families, children in military families, American Indian/Alaskan Native youth)

Information Requested

This RFI seeks information from the community about:

  1. Completed prevention intervention data sets containing measurement items or scales of SIB, and SIB was not a focus of the study;

Areas of possible comment include but are not limited to:

  • A brief description of the trial, including information about the population, the intervention implemented, and length of follow-up
    • The number of participants in the original trial, AND the number who were contacted and provided data at the most recent data collection point
  • Information regarding the measurement items or scales of SIB used in the study
  • information/ideas about novel/innovative and efficient strategies that could be used to retain, locate, contact, and assess participants to track longer-term outcomes.
  1. Conceptually relevant currently funded prevention studies (with at least one year left in the study) who have the capability of adding measures to examine long-term and/or cross-over effects of the intervention on SIB;

Areas of possible comment include but are not limited to:

  • A brief description of the trial, including aims of the study, information about the population, the intervention implemented, and length of follow-up planned in the study
    • The number of participants in the trial, AND the number who were contacted and provided data at the most recent data collection point
    • Progress in terms of recruitment goals
  • Length of time left in the study
  1. Prevention intervention studies with the potential to conduct long-term follow-up (e.g., consent and ability to follow-up) to examine long-term and cross-over effects, unanticipated beneficial effects, in reducing risk for SIB, in pre-adolescence through adulthood.

Areas of possible comment include but are not limited to:

  • A brief description of the original trial, including information regarding the population, the intervention implemented, and length of follow-up
    • The number of participants in the original trial, AND the number who were contacted and provided data at the most recent data collection point
  • The date of the most recent participant contact
  • The mode/location of most recent data collection (e.g., in person; mail, email, web, or other remote strategy).
  • Whether the most recently completed informed consent explicitly includes permission to recontact participants for additional data collection.
  • The estimated number of participants who might be approached for additional data collection and the estimated number who might be feasibly reached and might provide data.
  • information/ideas about novel/innovative and efficient strategies that could be used to retain, locate, contact, and assess participants to track longer-term outcomes.

Submitting a Response

All comments must be submitted via email as text or as an attached electronic document. Your responses should be addressed to: ResearchRTF@mail.nih.gov by April 08, 2019. Please include the Notice number NOT-MH-19-021 in the subject line. Response to this RFI is voluntary. Responders are free to address any or all of the categories listed above. The submitted information will be reviewed by the NIH staff.

This request is for information and planning purposes only and should not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the Federal Government. The NIH does not intend to make any awards based on responses to this RFI or to otherwise pay for the preparation of any information submitted or for the Government's use of such information.

The NIH will use the information submitted in response to this RFI at its discretion and will not provide comments to any responder's submission. However, responses to the RFI may be reflected in future funding opportunity announcements. The information provided will be analyzed and may be aggregated in reports. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Eve E. Reider, PhD
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Telephone: 301-827-1496
Email: ereider@mail.nih.gov