The Impact of Caller Gender on Telephone Crisis-Helpline Workers’ Interpretation of Suicidality in Caller Vignettes

Tara Hunt, Coralie J. Wilson, Peter Caputi, Ian Wilson and Alan Woodward
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Tara Hunt: School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
Coralie J. Wilson: School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
Peter Caputi: School of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
Ian Wilson: School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
Alan Woodward: Centre for Mental Illness in Nowra District: Goals and Prevention (MINDtheGaP), Nowra, NSW 2541, Australia

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: Telephone crisis-line workers (TCWs) are trained in a variety of techniques and skills to facilitate the identification of suicidal callers. One factor that may influence the implementation of these skills is gender. This study used an experimental design to explore whether helpline callers being identified as male or female is associated with TCWs’ ratings of callers’ potential for suicide risk and TCWs’ intention to use support- or intervention-oriented skills with callers. Data were collected using an online self-report survey in an Australian sample of 133 TCWs. The results suggest that under some circumstances the callers’ gender might influence TCWs’ intention to use intervention-oriented skills with the caller. Implications for the training of telephone crisis workers, and those trained in suicide prevention more broadly are discussed.

Keywords: suicide; suicide intervention; telephone crisis-helpline; telephone crisis support; men; women; communication; gender differences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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