Mental Imagery for Suicidality in Students Trial (MISST) - Version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Mental Imagery for Suicidality in Students Trial (MISST): A feasibility study.
IRAS ID
305348
Contact name
Jasper Palmier-Claus
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Suicide is the main cause of death in young people. Many students experience suicidal thoughts. These thoughts can be distressing. They can lead to suicide attempts and worse mental health. University and NHS services typically manage this risk. However, there are few treatments for targeting suicidal thinking in students.
We want to evaluate a new talking therapy called the Broad-Minded Affective Coping (BMAC) intervention. It is brief, structured, and easily used by student services. The BMAC asks people to revisit and focus on positive memories and experiences. This may help people to break out of cycles of suicidal thinking. We want to see whether we can do a trial of the BMAC.
We will recruit 66 students with suicidal thoughts to a feasibility trial. We will randomly assign 33 students to receiving risk assessment and signposting. The other 33 students will receive risk assessment and signposting plus the BMAC. We will assess students’ suicidal thinking and other difficulties at the start of trial and after eight, 16 and 24 weeks. We will explore whether young people are happy to complete the clinical assessments and the BMAC.
We will interview students and staff as they finish the trial. Staff will also keep detailed notes of their experiences. This will help us to understand how people found the therapy and the trial. The results will improve the BMAC for young people. It will help to plan a larger study.
REC name
London - Bromley Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/LO/0897
Date of REC Opinion
8 Dec 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion