Exploring Biological Mechanisms Underlying the TEACH Intervention for Adolescents With Lupus

Inclusion criteria

• be diagnosed with cSLE, meeting 2012 American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/System Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) and/or European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR)/ACR classification criteria for SLE by age 18 years
• be between the ages of 12 and 18 years
• have stable disease meeting criteria for low lupus disease activity state (LLDAS)
• in recognition of the heterogeneity of symptoms, have elevations (T scores ≥60; see Measures section) in fatigue OR depressive symptoms (≥5 on the PHQ-9, T Score ≥ 60 on the BDI or CDI II), OR pain (i.e., average pain ≥3 out of 10)
• have English language proficiency for cognitive assessment.

Exclusion criteria

• other chronic medical conditions (e.g., juvenile arthritis)
• a documented developmental delay, severe cognitive impairment, or thought disorder
• an untreated major psychiatric illness (e.g., bipolar disorder, psychosis, severe depression (T score ≥90) or active suicidal ideation (SI), based on the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI-II) /Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) items or PHQ9 score ≥21.
• current psychotropic medication use
• concurrent psychotherapy or other psychological intervention
• conditions precluding cognitive task assessment (history of major head trauma, learning disability, alcohol/drug use within 24 hours of assessment, severe developmental problems affecting cognition, hearing loss or vision problems).