Testing the Efficacy of ACT for Life
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT04829682. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Official title
Testing the Efficacy of ACT for Life: A Brief Inpatient Intervention to Maximize Recovery and Prevent Future Suicidal Behavior
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Psychiatric hospitalization is a critical opportunity to provide treatment to reduce the risk of suicide and lay the groundwork for functional recovery. In fact, the period following psychiatric hospitalization presents the greatest risk of death by suicide for Veterans. Despite psychiatric hospitalization being a vital time for intervention, there are no suicide-specific evidence-based psychotherapies (EBPs) that can be feasibly delivered during a typical VHA inpatient stay. Importantly, suicide-specific inpatient interventions are primarily focused on reducing the reoccurrence of suicidal behavior and have limited or no focus on directly targeting other aspects of functional recovery. Preventing suicide during a crisis is only a short-term solution if we fail to assist patients in building a life they deem worth living. The investigators' research over the past several years has been focused on addressing this gap and overcoming barriers to implementing psychosocial interventions in an inpatient setting. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a psychosocial intervention well suited to both preventing suicide and enhancing functioning, but the investigators were not aware of any ACT-based treatment protocols designed to specifically target suicide risk. The investigators consulted with leading ACT clinicians and researchers to develop and manualize "ACT for Life", a brief, transdiagnostic, recovery-oriented, inpatient, intervention for Veterans hospitalized due to suicide risk. The individual intervention involves 3 to 6 inpatient sessions and 1 to 4 outpatient sessions focused on skills generalization and treatment engagement. The investigators conducted a randomized controlled pilot study evaluating the acceptability of ACT for Life and the feasibility of the planned design for the proposed randomized controlled efficacy trial. Results of this rigorous pilot study support the acceptability and feasibility of ACT for Life. Nearly all Veterans reported that they believed they benefitted from ACT for Life. Preliminary outcomes suggest that ACT for Life may improve functioning and reduce suicidal behavior following hospitalization due to suicide risk. However, a full-scale clinical trial will be necessary to definitively evaluate the efficacy of ACT for Life. To accomplish this goal, the investigators are proposing to conduct a randomized controlled trial of ACT for Life versus Present Centered Therapy in 278 Veterans hospitalized for suicide risk to examine outcomes of suicidal behavior and changes in functioning over a one-year period following psychiatric hospitalization. The specific aims of this study are to determine the efficacy of ACT for Life for preventing suicidal behavior and maximizing functional recovery, and to examine candidate ACT for Life treatment mechanisms. Participants will complete assessments prior to treatment, before discharge from the inpatient unit, and at one-, three-, six-, and twelve-months following discharge. The proposed randomized controlled trial of ACT for Life has the potential to fill the VHA's need for empirically-supported inpatient interventions that can be delivered during a typical inpatient stay, are recovery oriented, and prevent future suicidal behavior.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT04829682
- Recruitment status
- Enrolling by invitation
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 278 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years to 89 Years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Healthy volunteers not accepted
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Sep 30, 2022
- Primary completion
- Dec 30, 2026
- Completion
- Mar 30, 2027
- Last update posted
- Apr 13, 2026
2022 – 2027
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 2
- U.S. states
- 2
- U.S. cities
- 2
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center, Aurora, CO | Aurora | Colorado | 80045-7211 | — |
| Battle Creek VA Medical Center, Battle Creek, MI | Battle Creek | Michigan | 49037 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT04829682, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Apr 13, 2026 · Synced Sep 1, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT04829682 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.