Virtual Role-play: Middle School Educators Addressing Student Mental Health

Abstract

Objectives: In this study, we examined the impact of a virtual training program, Kognito At-Risk role-play simulation, on the mental health and suicide prevention gatekeeping skills of middle school educators. Methods: The validated Gatekeeper Behavior Scale was administered to 33,703 participants at baseline, post-training and follow-up. Helping behaviors were measured at baseline and follow-up. We also assessed preparedness, likelihood, and self-efficacy concerning leading conversations with youth about bullying and suicide. Results: Participants showed positive change from pre-test to 3-month follow-up on variables of interest. Hotelling's T2 test indicated that, as a set, gatekeeper attitudes of preparedness, likelihood, and self-efficacy differed between pre-test and post-test, F (3, 33,512) = 16,283, p < .001, η2 partial = .59. Number of students about whom gatekeepers were concerned (p < .05), number of students approached to discuss concerns (p < .001), and number of students referred to support services (p <.001) increased significantly with training. Conclusions: The At-Risk simulation shows promise in detecting and referring students in psychological distress, including risk of suicide. Fidelity is maintained because the program cannot be altered. At-Risk can be an effective and affordable way to provide suicide prevention training for those working in schools.

Postvention as Prevention: Coping with Loss at School

“…In this same study, educators reported a 36% increase in the number of students recognized as being in distress, a 54% in number of students with whom they had discussions about concerns, and a 72% increase in the number of parents with whom they had discussions about referrals to support for their children. Additional studies demonstrate similar findings for training via virtual role-play simulators [ 35 , 36 , 37 ]. In the Resilient Together: Coping with Loss at School simulation, participants enter an online environment where they practice role-playing with emotionally responsive intelligent virtual students coded with memory, personality, and will respond like real students who have experienced a loss.…”

“…A virtual coach provides ongoing feedback on effective and ineffective communication strategies and though practicing the role-plays, participants learn how to support students impacted by a death and support their colleagues experiencing compassion fatigue. Several studies have demonstrated the efficacious impact of role-play simulations that have implemented similar learning models as the one examined in this study [ 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. A more detailed description of simulation design and learning methodology can be found in Albright et al [ 38 ] as well as an overview on simulations in PK-12 [ 39 ].…”

Implementing Suicide Prevention Training into an Athletic Training Curriculum: An Introductory Model

“…Through the integration of a suicide prevention gatekeeper training program with the addition of audience-specific interactive experiential exercises and roleplaying as part of the instructional strategies, evidence supports the model's positive enhancement and retention of athletic training students' crisis response skills over traditional didactic training alone. 12,[22][23][24][25] This introductory model is by no means the best or only educational technique to address suicide prevention training and the associated educational standards required of athletic training curricula, but it provides a sample of one that has been designed specifically to meet the unique needs of an athletic training program.…”

“…8,22 Many different gatekeeper training programs (ie, Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training; Campus Connect; Kognito; Question, Persuade, Refer) are available to teach suicide ideation recognition, crisis intervention, and referral. 22 Positive outcomes from the evaluation of these gatekeeper training programs 9,12,[23][24][25][26] support the implementation in an athletic training curriculum.…”

Innovative Virtual Role Play Simulations for Managing Substance Use Conversations: Pilot Study Results and Relevance During and After COVID-19

“…These studies have found that virtual role play practices can provide an efficacious means of delivering screening and brief intervention training for health care providers [29][30][31][32][33][34], and have proven to successfully change attitudinal constructs and behaviors in K12 and higher education settings related to identifying; talking to; and, if necessary, referring students in psychological distress. [29,[35][36][37][38][39]. Virtual role play simulations that integrated MI techniques were equally effective across multiple races and ethnicities including people who were Black, Hispanic, Latinx, White, Asian, and American Indian or Alaska Native [40,41].…”