Helping parents respond when a child's social media flags suicide risk
Official title: Helping Guardians Navigate Youth Suicide Risk: Development and Piloting of a Brief Digital Intervention
Funded at University of Denver (Colorado Seminary) · NIH-11243542 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project creates a short online program to help parents of pre- and early adolescents stay calm, validate their child, and monitor safety when a digital app flags possible suicide risk.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Denver (Colorado Seminary) NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Denver, United States) |
| Project start | December 9, 2024 |
| Project end | November 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $227,570 |
| NIH project number | 5R34MH138716-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11243542 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Parents or caregivers of pre- and early adolescents (roughly ages 8–13) whose children use social media or digital monitoring apps and who might receive suicide-risk alerts.
✕Less likely to help
Families whose child is already in immediate crisis or receiving intensive emergency mental health care, or families without access to digital monitoring tools, may not benefit from this preventive digital program.
What this research studies
You would be offered a brief online session that teaches emotional regulation, how to validate your child, and specific steps for safety-focused monitoring when an app alerts you to concerning posts or searches. The team will pair this single-session lesson with quick, just-in-time digital prompts that can be sent when an alert occurs. Parents will try the materials and give feedback while researchers refine the content and delivery. The goal is to make a simple, practical tool parents can use right away if they receive a suicide-risk notification about their child.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the program could help parents respond more effectively to risk alerts and lower the chances of suicidal thoughts or behaviors in their child.
How similar studies have gone: Single-session and brief digital parent interventions have shown promise for improving parenting and youth outcomes, but combining them with AI-generated monitoring alerts is a newer approach with limited prior testing.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Denver (Colorado Seminary)
Denver, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Fox, Kathryn — University of Denver (Colorado Seminary)
- Study coordinator: Fox, Kathryn
Related research
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Reducing firearm suicide among Veterans with peer-delivered counseling
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How School Cellphone Rules Might Affect Youth Suicide and Violence
A study will look at whether restricting students’ use of cellphones at school influences rates of suicidal thoughts and interpersonal violence among youth.
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INCLUSAVE: helping young adults with IDD access suicide-prevention trainings
A new NIH grant studies whether two proven gatekeeper trainings (ASIST and safeTALK) can be delivered in inclusive settings to support young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their communities.
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A universal school program to help middle schoolers stay emotionally regulated and safer
A school-based program teaches students calming skills to reduce violence and thoughts of self-harm, tested in a randomized trial with middle schoolers.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.