Recruiting

Caring Contacts

Sponsor:

Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Code:

NCT07043764

Conditions

Suicide Prevention

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 12 - 17

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Caring Contacts Text Messages

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this pilot clinical trial is to learn if Caring Contacts (brief, hopeful, supportive text messages) can be delivered to adolescents with suicidal thoughts or behaviors after discharge from the emergency department, and to understand if adolescents find it acceptable to receive Caring Contacts. Researchers will also begin to explore how suicidal thoughts and behaviors change over time among participants who receive Caring Contacts along with treatment as usual, compared to participants who only receive treatment as usual.

All participants will be invited to answer survey questions when they first enroll in the study and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after their emergency department visit. Some participants will receive Caring Contacts (brief, hopeful, supportive text messages) after their emergency department visit. Some participants will be invited to complete an interview about their experiences receiving Caring Contacts.

Conditions

Suicide Prevention

Study ID

NCT07043764

Start date

Sep 15, 2026

Status verified date

Sep, 2026

Completion date

Aug, 2028

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Aug, 2028

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 12 - 17

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 12 to <18 years of age
  • Present to the emergency department with suicidal thoughts or behaviors as indicated by the Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ)
  • Have a cell phone that can receive text messages
  • Proficient in English
  • Anticipated disposition of discharge from the emergency department

Exclusion Criteria:

  • In care of the Department of Children and Family Services
  • Unable to participate meaningfully in assent, assessments, or the intervention, as determined by the treating clinician, including any of the following: acute or chronic cognitive impairment, acute psychosis, current severe agitation, current alcohol or drug intoxication

Study Design

Enrollment

56 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

no intervention: Treatment as Usual

Treatment as usual consists of a suicide risk assessment during the emergency department visit, determination of disposition, safety planning, provision of crisis resources, and coordination of follow-up mental health services if indicated.

experimental: Caring Contacts

In addition to Treatment as Usual, participants will receive Caring Contacts, consisting of brief, hopeful, supportive text messages.

Interventions

Caring Contacts Text Messages

Caring Contacts are brief, hopeful, supportive text messages.

Primary outcome measure

  • Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) Self-Report Recent [ Time Frame: Baseline, 1 Month, 3 Months, 6 Months, 12 Months ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Jennifer A. Hoffmann, MD, MS

312-227-4000jhoffmann@luriechildrens.org

Locations

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Recruiting

Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611

Contacts

Jennifer A. Hoffmann, MD, MS

312-227-4000jhoffmann@luriechildrens.org

More Information

Sponsor

Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Last update posted

Sep 21, 2026

Last verified

Sep, 2026

Keywords

  • Adolescent
  • Text Messaging

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-24. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago on 2026-09-21. Recruitment status is synced daily from ClinicalTrials.gov and may not reflect the sponsor's current status. Confirm during your call.