Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT07256496

Enhanced Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents

Suicide is a leading cause of death and significant concerns for adolescents and young adults. Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A) is an evidence-based intervention that effectively reduces life-threatening behaviors. Limited research examines the impact of adding individualized skills coaching sessions (ISCS) to the DBT-A model, a novel intervention referred to in this paper as "Enhanced DBT-A". This study evaluates the effectiveness of Enhanced DBT-A in reducing suicidality over 1 year of treatment in an outpatient and intensive outpatient setting.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Suicidality Behavior Behavioral Symptoms Self-Injurious Behavior Suicidal Ideation Suicide

Age range

13 year–25 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Compass Behavioral Health

Tustin, California, 92780, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

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

Inclusion criteria

  • appropriateness for Stage 1 DBT, completion of all assessments within the designated timeframe, a non-zero score on the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) at intake, and participation in at least one ISCS between intake and 1 year from the first individual therapy session.

Exclusion criteria

  • presenting with active psychosis, a primary diagnosis of substance use, who did not consent to data collection, or who had a zero score on the C-SSRS at intake

Treatment and study plan

Enhanced DBT-A

Behavioral

Participants engaged in Enhanced DBT-A services, including individual therapy, group skills training, phone coaching, and ISCS. Participants completed assessment batteries at intake, 6 months, and 1 year, and the outcome measures assessed participants' severity and intensity of suicidal ideation (SI), reasons for living, and depressive symptoms.

Primary outcomes

  1. Reasons for Living Inventory for Adolescents (RFL-A)

    Time frame: 1 year

    The Reasons for Living Inventory for Adolescents (RFL-A; Osman et al, 1998) is a 32-item self-report questionnaire that assesses adaptive reasons that may prevent an adolescent from engaging in life-threatening behavior.

  2. PHQ-9

    Time frame: 1 year

    The current study administered the PHQ-9 to participants 18 years and older. The PHQ-9 (Kroenke et al, 2001) is a widely-used and psychometrically-robust self-report measure used to assess the prevalence of depressive symptoms in adults during a two-week period.

  3. Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale - Self Report Screener - Recent (C-SSRS).

    Time frame: 1 year

    To capture the severity and intensity of participants' SI and their corresponding suicide risk, we used items from the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale - Screen Version - Recent (C-SSRS; Posner et al, 2011).

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Compass Behavioral Health

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Enhanced Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents: Impacts of Individualized Skills Coaching on Constructs of Suicidality

Important dates

Study start
2014
Primary completion
2022
Study completion
2022
First posted
Dec 1, 2025
Registry last updated
Dec 1, 2025

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.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.