Needs Assessment Among Carers of Someone With Suicidal Thoughts

With this study the investigators would like to gain insight into the experienced needs carers of individuals with suicidal thoughts, who attempted suicide or who died by suicide. By carers the investigators mean everyone who knows/knew someone close to them who is thinking about suicide, attempted suicide or died by suicide. By mapping out these needs, the investigators hope to better support carers and develop/improve initiatives and tools.

The investigators examine this by means of an online one-time questionnaire. In this questionnaire the investigators ask the participants questions about what it is like to be a carer and what are some of the experienced needs, as well as experiences with existing initiatives/tools.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Informal Caregivers; Suicide Prevention
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: No intervention (observational study)

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 2255

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Belgium
  • Ghent, Belgium, 9000
    • Flemish Centre of Expertise in Suicide Prevention, Ghent University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Participants are inidividuals (16 years or older) who know someone close to them with suicidal thoughts and/or behaviors in the past three years.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 16 years or older
• Someone close to them has experienced suicidal thoughts, attempted suicide or died by suicide in the past three years
• Access to internet
• Understand sufficient Dutch (to complete the questionnaire)

Exclusion Criteria:

• /

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Background information: information on the participant	Personal information (self-developed questionnaire): age, gender identity, education, cultural background, work status, recruitment type	Baseline. Completing the questionnaire will take about 15-20 minutes
Background information: information on the suicidal person	Information on the suicidal person (self-developed questionnaire): relationship with the person, age, gender identity, suicidality, degree of contact	Baseline. Completing the questionnaire will take about 15-20 minutes
Experienced burden: suicidality	based on national health survey (Sciensano, 2018)	Baseline. Completing the questionnaire will take about 15-20 minutes
Experienced burden when supporting the individual with suicdial thoughts	self-developed questionnaire on the role of the carer and current degree of care	Baseline. Completing the questionnaire will take about 15-20 minutes
Experienced burden when supporting the individual with suicdial thoughts	Zarit Caregiver Burden 4-item questionnaire (Zarit et al., 1985; Higginson et al., 2010)	Baseline. Completing the questionnaire will take about 15-20 minutes
Experienced burden: psychological stress	Kessler Psychological Distress Scale , 6-item (Kessler et al., 2002, 2003)	Baseline. Completing the questionnaire will take about 15-20 minutes
Experienced needs	Self-developed questionnaire examining the need for information, need for support and needs with regards to health care	Baseline. Completing the questionnaire will take about 15-20 minutes
Experience with existing initiatives and tools	Self-developed questionnaire about the experience of participants with existing initiatives and tools	Baseline. Completing the questionnaire will take about 15-20 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Ghent
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Gwendolyn Portzky, PhD, Flemish Centre of Expertise in Suicide Prevention (Ghent University)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 29, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 12, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): May 12, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 4, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 20, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): September 25, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): September 5, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 28, 2025
• Last Verified: August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: suicide; informal caregivers; needs assessment
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Self-Injurious Behavior; Behavior; Suicide Prevention; Suicide; Investigative Techniques; Methods; Observation
• Other Study ID Numbers: ONZ-2024-0404

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No