Rapid e-mail response to first-contact e-mails increases consultation continuation rates for suicide prevention

Online gatekeeping is a psychological consultation service in which e-mails are sent to Internet users who are at risk of suicide. This research aimed to clarify the relation between the continuation rate of the service and the speed of response to the user’s first-contact e-mails. We analyzed 290 initial e-mails that arrived at [author’s institution], the study’s specified nonprofit corporation. The reply speed for e-mails arriving during the day was related to consultation continuation: responses sent within and more than 12 hours produced continuation rates of approximately 70% and 44%, respectively. Hence, systems that enable consultants to respond to first-contact e-mails within 12 hours are important for consultation to commence.