Awareness Effects of a Youth Suicide Prevention Media Campaign in Louisiana

Research on the efficacy of mediated suicide awareness campaigns is limited. The impacts of a state-wide media campaign on call volumes to a national hotline were analyzed to determine if the advertisements have raised awareness of the hotline. We use a quasi-experimental design to compare call volumes from ZIP codes where and when the campaign is active with those where and when the campaign is not active. Multilevel model estimates suggest that the campaign appears to have significantly and substantially increased calls to the hotline. Results from this study add evidence to the growing public health literature that suggests that mediated campaigns can be an effective tool for raising audience awareness.