Social Workers Addressing Firearm Risk (SAFR)

Evaluating the Social Workers Addressing Firearm Risk (SAFR) Intervention: A Pilot Study

Aim 2: Evaluate the preliminary efficacy of the SAFR intervention using a randomized controlled trial. An additional 100 practicing social workers (excluding participants from Aim 1) will be recruited, with n = 50 allocated to each arm of the study utilizing block randomization. Participants in the control arm will receive invitations to all surveys but not to the SAFR intervention itself. We will utilize the validated measures from Aim 1 to assess changes on study variables. Results will be analyzed using either mixed linear models or generalized estimating equations as appropriate. Analyses will be performed with a focus on estimation of parameters for use in the planning of a subsequent comparative trial designed to fully assess intervention efficacy with a national sample. Supportive analyses that adjust for participant covariates will also be considered. We will also ask participants for feedback on the intervention and will track indicators of feasibility and acceptability (recruitment rates, completion of intervention and measurement tools).

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Gun Violence Prevention
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Social Workers Addressing Firearm Risk

Detailed Description

Specific Aim 2: Evaluate the efficacy of the SAFR intervention. Once measurement tools have been validated, we will begin to recruit for the pilot test of the SAFR intervention. Recruitment methods will be similar to those in Aim 1; individuals who participate in Aim 1 will not be eligible to participate in the trial of SAFR. Participants will be randomized equally to the control and intervention groups. Participants will be invited to enroll in the study by clicking on links in advertisement materials. The link will take them to a brief webpage with information about the study and questions screening for eligibility. Once screened, they will complete the informed consent document and await randomization. Participants in the intervention group will receive an email with instructions on how to access the pre-test measurements and the course. Because the course is online and self-paced, they will be given six weeks to complete the course, with reminders coming once a week to encourage completion. The UB SSW Continuing Education website allows us to track information about participants, including time to completion for all users; this information will be utilized to assess the acceptability of the course. The pre-test survey will include the scales assessing knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors towards assessing for risks of firearm violence among clients, in addition to a demographic survey and the Gun Control Attitudes and Gun Behaviors and Beliefs Scales. The post-test, which will be sent out one month after the pre-test, assuming that the course was successfully completed, will contain the measures regarding knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. We will also be assessing for acceptability of the intervention by including questions that ask participants for their thoughts on the course. Finally, the follow-up will be sent three months after the completion of the post-test and will assess knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors a final time. The control group will receive the three surveys (without course feedback items) on the same timeline. At the conclusion of the study, they will be invited to receive the SAFR intervention at no cost.

Data analysis plan. To describe the observed variability in the data and test for differences between randomized groups, linear or generalized linear models will be utilized depending on the nature of the outcome. Once a given model is fit, a linear contrast based on the estimated model parameters will be constructed and used to test for the overall effect of random assignment. Point estimates and corresponding confidence intervals to quantify treatment differences will be provided. Since the comparability of randomized groups may be questioned due to chance imbalances in confounding variables, subject-level covariates known to be predictive of outcome and their interactions with randomized assignment will be added to the models as a series of supportive analyses. All analyses will be performed based on the intent-to-treat principle. The amount and nature of missing data for collected study variables will be characterized and no method of imputation will be used for missing data for primary analyses. All tests will be two-sided and tested at a 0.05 nominal significance level. Standard diagnostic plots will be used to assess model fit and transformations of variables may be considered in order to meet statistical assumptions. With the proposed sample size, mean differences of 0.6 standard deviations are detectable at 80% power. Group-specific means and proportions will be estimated with an associated confidence interval width of 0.55 standard deviations and 28 percentage points, respectively.

Hypotheses:

Aim 2: The SAFR intervention will improve social workers' knowledge of gun violence, attitudes about social workers' need to intervene with all clients, and behaviors regarding discussing guns and gun violence risks with clients compared to pre-test and the control group. We also hypothesize that the SAFR intervention will be feasible and acceptable.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 111
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • Buffalo, New York, United States, 14260
      • Online Only

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 100 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Practicing social worker
• In New York
• Age 18 or older
• English proficiency

Exclusion Criteria:

• Not meeting above criteria

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Social Workers Addressing Firearm Risk; The Social workers Addressing Firearm Risk (SAFR) intervention is fully-online intervention that contains four modules. Each module includes interviews with experts, didactic content, handouts, and brief quizzes to check learning (required by New York State for continuing education credit).	Behavioral: Social Workers Addressing Firearm Risk; Educational intervention for social workers.; Other Names: SAFR
No Intervention: Control; Wait list control. Will receive access to SAFR intervention at conclusion of the study.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Knowledge About Gun Violence	Assessed with the Knowledge about gun violence measure (novel). Theoretical minimum/maximum = 0.0/5.0. High scores indicate more knowledge about firearm safety.	Baseline, 1 month later, and 3 months later
Change in Attitudes About Firearms Safety Counseling	Assessed with the Attitudes about firearms safety counseling (novel). Theoretical minimum/maximum = 0/5.00. High scores indicate greater inclination towards discussing firearm safety with clients.	Baseline, 1 month later, and 3 months later
Change in Confidence About Firearms Safety Counseling	Assessed with the Confidence about firearms safety counseling (novel). Theoretical minimum/maximum = 0/5.00. High scores indicate greater confidence about discussing firearm safety with clients.	Baseline, 1 month later, and 3 months later
Change in Behaviors With Clients	Assessed with the Behaviors with Clients measure (novel). Theoretical minimum/maximum = 0/5.00. High scores indicate more interventions about firearm safety with clients. This scale asked questions like, "I talk to my clients about firearm access," with answers ranging from Strongly disagree to strongly agree.	Baseline, 1 month later, and 3 months later
Change in Behaviors With Clients in Last Month	Assessed with the Behaviors with Clients in last month measure (novel). Theoretical minimum/maximum = 0/2.00. Higher scores indicate more interventions about firearm safety with clients. This scale asked questions like, "In the last month, I have provided clients with information about firearm safety..." with answers specified as "none of the time," "some of the time," and "all of the time."	Baseline, 1 month later, and 3 months later

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: State University of New York at Buffalo
• Collaborators: National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 21, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 31, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): May 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 6, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 13, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): March 27, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 6, 2025
• Last Verified: February 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: firearms; social work; guns
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00006636; UL1TR001412 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: No data will be shared with other researchers.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No