Suicide Prevention Program with Cooperation from Senior Volunteers, Governments, and Schools: A Study of the Intervention Effects of "Educational Lessons Regarding SOS Output" Focusing on Junior High School Students.

As a suicide countermeasure for young people, implementing "SOS output education" that provides young people with opportunities and approaches to seeking support with community cooperation can be expected to reduce lifelong suicide risk. We implemented an "SOS output education" for junior high school students with cooperation from educators, government staff, and older people working as community volunteers. A total of 188 students were allocated to an intervention group and a waiting group. Outcome assessments were implemented at three points in time: before the program (Time 1), after the program (Time 2), and three months after the program (Time 3). Results showed that the number of people with worries increased in the intervention group compared with the waiting group between Time 1 and Time 2. There was also an increase in people with "reliable adults" between Time 1 and Time 3, and people with "adults who you can talk to at any time" increased between Time 2 and Time 3 in the intervention group. By implementing the SOS output education program with community cooperation, an increase was observed in the intervention group in terms of support-seeking awareness and the number of people with reliable adults and with adults who they can talk to at any time.

Influence of "Face-to-Face Contact" and "Non-Face-to-Face Contact" on the Subsequent Decline in Self-Rated Health and Mental Health Status of Young, Middle-Aged, and Older Japanese Adults: A Two-Year Prospective Study.

This study aims to identify the independent influence of face-to-face contact (FFC) and non-face-to-face contact (NFFC) on the subsequent decline in self-rated health and mental health status by age. A total of 12,000 participants were randomly selected among residents in the study area, and 1751 of them responded to both the 2016 and 2018 mail surveys. The participants were subsequently classified into three age groups (25-49: Young adults; 50-64: Mid-aged adults; and 65-84: Older adults). Social contact was assessed by computing the frequencies of FFC and NFFC. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed the risk of social contact on the decline in self-rated health and World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index. Both FFC and NFFC were significantly associated with maintaining mental health; however, the impacts of FFC on mental health were more significant than that of NFFC among older adults and young adults. Compared with the no contact group, FFC was significantly associated with maintaining self-rated health in mid-aged adults. The influence of FFC and NFFC on health differed by age group.