Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents at Rutgers University

NCT03861858 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2018001563
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 56
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This project expands our existing psychological services clinic (the Dialectical Behavior Therapy Clinic at Rutgers University; DBT-RU) to include an adolescent treatment arm. Adolescents aged 13-20 and at least one caregiver will be recruited to participate in a six-month treatment study. Adolescents will be eligible to participate if they meet at least 3 criteria for borderline personality disorder, with one of those criteria being either impulsive behavior or recurrent self-harm behavior. Participants will be assessed at baseline, three-months (mid-treatment), six-months (post-treatment, and three-month follow-up.

Conditions

Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescence

Keywords

borderline personality disorder; adolescence; suicide; substance use

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors Inventory (SITBI)

  semi-structured interview designed to assess presence of suicide ideation, suicide attempts, self-injurious behaviors

  six months

• Work and Social Adjustment Scale

  WSAS items are rated on a scale of 0 (No Impairment) to 8 (Severe Impairment). Total scores are calculated by adding the scores of all 5 items. The minimum score of the WSAS is 0 and the maximum score of the WSAS is 40. Scores below 10 are associated with subclinical populations. Scores between 10 and 20 are associated with significant impairment, but less severe clinical symptomology. Scores above 20 are associated with moderately severe or worse psychopathology.

  six months

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS)

  six months

• Borderline Symptom List (BSL-23)

  six months

• Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI)

  six months

Study Arms (1)

DBT-A

EXPERIMENTAL

The standard treatment to be delivered to all participants is DBT-A, which is a treatment model adapted from DBT. DBT-A is an adaptation for adolescents with emotion dysregulation and BPD features (Miller, Rathus, \& Linehan, 2007; Rathus \& Miller, 2015). DBT-A involves weekly individual therapy with the adolescent, weekly multifamily skills group in which adolescents and family members participate, as needed phone coaching, and weekly consultation team for the therapists.

Behavioral: DBT-A

Interventions

DBT-A BEHAVIORAL

DBT-A is a multimodal therapy which consists of weekly individual therapy, weekly multifamily skills groups, as needed phone coaching, and weekly consultation team for the therapists.

DBT-A

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 13 Years - 20 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Age 13-17 years or 18-20 if still living at home with parent.
• Agreement of at least one responsible adult parent/caregiver to participate in treatment.
• Agreement to take part in assessments, videotaping/audiotaping and coding of their sessions by research personnel.
• Agreement to pay for mental health services at the DBT- RU on a sliding scale, and to participate in research assessments as volunteers.
• Residence within commuting distance of clinic (\< 45 minutes).
• Agreement to discontinue other forms of talk therapy for duration of DBT program (does not refer to AA/NA programs or psychotropic medication management).
• Exhibits dysregulation within the past six months as evidenced by 1) intentional self-injury and/or suicide attempt and/or 2) substance use disorder.
• Meets two additional criteria for borderline personality disorder (BPD).

You may not qualify if:

• Clients who need mental health services not available at the DBT- RU, such as treatment for schizophrenia or life-threatening anorexia, or who are currently obtaining optimum professional treatment that should not be ended.
• Non-English speaking.
• IQ \< 70.
• Unable to understand research consent forms.
• Court-ordered to participate in treatment.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey: lead

Study Sites (1)

Rutgers University

Piscataway, New Jersey, 08854, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Borderline Personality Disorder; Suicide; Substance-Related Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Personality Disorders; Mental Disorders; Self-Injurious Behavior; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior; Chemically-Induced Disorders

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 1, 2019
• First Posted: March 4, 2019
• Study Start: January 2, 2019
• Primary Completion: October 31, 2023
• Study Completion: October 31, 2023
• Last Updated: July 30, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)