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OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT01925807

Building Resilience and Attachment in Vulnerable Adolescents

Suicide is the second leading cause of mortality for Canadian adolescents. Mental health complaints are one of the leading reasons for an emergency department visit at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario and 60% of adolescents report suicidal ideation. The goal of the present investigation is to test the efficacy of a brief group intervention for adolescents with passive suicidal ideation and their caregivers that will focus on coping, familial support, and emotional regulation. The investigators hypothesize that a brief group intervention, delivered in the weeks following presentation for crisis services, will reduce suicidal ideation and improve coping and familial support.

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Key information

Conditions

Suicidal Ideation Behavior Behavioral Symptoms Disease Attributes Emergencies Pathologic Processes Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Self-Injurious Behavior Suicide

Age range

13 year–17 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario

Ottawa, Ontario, K1H8L1, Canada

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Mild to moderate suicidal ideation
  • Recently presented for services in response to a psycho-social crisis (Emergency Department, MH Urgent Care)
  • One or two caregiver(s) committed to attending the majority of sessions

Exclusion criteria

  • Presence of a suicidal plan and/or recent gesture/attempt
  • Psychosis
  • Schizophrenia
  • Dual diagnosis
  • Developmental disability or delay
  • "Behavioural problem" as primary concern
  • Major substance abuse
  • Currently receiving mental health services (once every two weeks or more frequently)
  • Inability to commit to majority of sessions (minimum 4 of 6 sessions)
  • Children's aid society involvement
  • Inability of at least one caregiver to commit to attending the majority of sessions

Treatment and study plan

group intervention

Behavioral

The intervention will consist of 6 psycho-educational group sessions for caregivers and 6 psycho-educational group sessions for adolescents. Adolescent and caregiver sessions will be held separately and will focus on different issues. For adolescents, the group sessions will focus on coping strategies and emotional regulation. For caregivers, the group sessions will be focused on attachment, family environment, and validation.

Primary outcomes

  1. Suicidal Ideation

    Time frame: 6 weeks

    Suicidal ideation will be measured using the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire Junior (SIQ-JR; Reynolds, 1988).

    Repeated Measures ANOVA or ANCOVA will be used to compare differences in suicidal ideation within groups (pre-post changes). Further comparisons using clinical cut-off will be conducted via McNemar test for matched pairs.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Familial Support

    Time frame: 6 weeks

    Familial support will be measured using questionnaires for both caregivers and youth. Youth will respond to the Family Environment Scale (Koren, DeChillo, & Friesen, 1992) and the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987). Caregivers will respond to the Family Environment Scale and and Relationship Scale Questionnaire (Griffine & Gartholomew, 1994).

    Repeated Measures ANOVA or ANCOVA will be used to compare differences within groups (pre-post changes).

Other outcomes

  1. Coping Strategies

    Time frame: 6 weeks

    Youth coping strategies will be measured using the Youth Stress and Coping Questionnaire (Cloutier et al., 2008).

    Repeated Measures ANOVA or ANCOVA will be used to compare differences within groups (pre-post changes).

  2. Depression

    Time frame: 6 weeks

    Youth depression will be measured using the Children's Depression Inventory-2 Self report (CDI-2; Kovaks, 2010).

    Repeated Measures ANOVA or ANCOVA will be used to compare differences within groups (pre-post changes).

  3. Anxiety

    Time frame: 6 weeks

    Youth anxiety symptoms will be measured using the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC-2; March, 1997).

    Repeated Measures ANOVA or ANCOVA will be used to compare differences within groups (pre-post changes).

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Allison Kennedy

Other

Collaborators

  • AFP Innovation Fund
  • Mach Gaensslen Foundation

Registry information

Official study title

Brief Group Intervention for Adolescents With Mild to Moderate Suicidal Ideation and Their Caregivers: Preliminary Investigation for a Novel Treatment Approach

Acronym: BRAVA

Important dates

Study start
2014
Primary completion
2017
Study completion
2017
First posted
Aug 20, 2013
Registry last updated
Aug 14, 2017

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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