Brief Suicide Intervention for Youth in Juvenile Detention Settings

The primary objective of this phase of the study is to develop and refine procedures for the new multi-faceted intervention for trauma-informed suicide prevention (brief cognitive-behavioral and trauma-informed strategies and safety planning for youth who are suicidal and/or self-harming, as well as training of staff in trauma-informed crisis management and de-escalation strategies) for youth in juvenile detention settings. An associated objective is to develop procedures for training staff working with youth in short-term juvenile detention settings to conduct the new intervention for reducing suicidal thoughts and behavior. A third objective is to examine the feasibility of this trauma-informed suicide prevention intervention in terms of initial participant recruitment, fidelity to the treatment model, treatment acceptability, and monitoring of adverse events in an open trial (n=20). This intervention will be iteratively refined during this open trial based on feedback from youth and staff, and experiences using the intervention in juvenile detention. We will also gather information regarding the presumed mechanisms of action and targeted outcomes for this intervention (although the small open trial will not be able to statistically examine effects).

As an intervention development study, this study is not powered to test hypotheses. Rather, the purpose of this study is to demonstrate feasibility and acceptability of the intervention and procedures, and to demonstrate viability of the proof of concept.

The study is a collaboration between Duke and Wake Forest investigators, and Juvenile Justice in the NC Department of Public Safety.

Inclusion criteria

• English speaking
• At least 13 years of age or older and 18 years old or younger
• Without evidence from school or other records of intellectual disability
• Without evidence of active psychosis
• Not wards of the state
• Risk for suicidal behavior or non-suicidal self-harm behavior

Exclusion criteria

• Not English-speaking or caregivers are not English-speaking
• Wards of the state
• Younger than 13 years old or older than 18 years of age
• Evidence from school or other records or suspected intellectual disability
• Active psychosis