ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE GAINS IN PROACTIVE TRAINING FOR POSTVENTION

This paper describes the development of a knowledge measure for the ev aluation Of a proactive active training program for suicide postventio n and analyses of its psychometric properties. The 25-item true-false knowledge test was administered before and after each of 12 training s essions; a total of 205 school personnel participated in the training and evaluation. Participants showed significant improvement in overall test scores and on several individual items following the training. A nalyses suggested that the measure has construct validity, and that it taps a single underlying dimension. Strengths and weaknesses of the m easure, and measurement issues in program evaluation are discussed.