About this trial
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) will be conducted over 1 year in youth with and/or at familial risk for bipolar disorder (BD). DBT will be divided into two modalities: 1) DBT skills training; and 2) DBT individual therapy sessions. Skills training sessions will incorporate the 5 standard adolescent DBT modules: mindfulness skills, emotion regulation skills, distress tolerance skills, interpersonal skills, and walking the middle path skills and an additional module on psychoeducation about DBT and BD. This study seeks to build upon the knowledge base in this area by offering DBT to youth with and/or at familial risk for BD with an emphasis on predictors and mediators of treatment outcomes.
Eligibility criteria
This trial does not accept healthy volunteersQualifiers
None
Disqualifiers
None
Trial design
Single group
Treatments tested in this trial
Dialectical behavioral therapy
BehavioralDBT will be conducted over 1 year, and divided into two modalities: skills training, conducted in 60 minute biweekly meetings and individual therapy conducted in 60 minute biweekly sessions. Family participation in skills training is highly encouraged. Skills training proceeds as follows: psychoeducation, mindfulness skills, emotion regulation skills, distress tolerance skills, interpersonal skills, and walking the middle path skills. Individual therapy sessions aim to aid the youth in applying skills in their daily lives. We adopt the standard DBT hierarchy of treatment targets, whereby the individual therapist selects behaviors to focus on based on the following priorities: 1) decreasing life-threatening behaviors, 2) decreasing therapy-interfering behaviors, 3) decreasing quality-of-life interfering behaviors, and 4) increasing behavioral skills. Therapists will be available to participants by cell phone for in-vivo skills coaching between sessions.
Treatment groups
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
Change in symptoms using the Structured Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders (SIDP-IV): Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline and antisocial personality symptoms will be assessed using the Structured Interview for DSM-IV Personality. The SID-P uses a semi structured interview format to assess for symptoms of personality disorders. Scores one each item range from 0 to 3 and high scores indicate symptoms of borderline personality disorder and levels of impairment.
Change in symptoms using the Structured Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders (SIDP-IV): Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline and antisocial personality symptoms will be assessed using the Structured Interview for DSM-IV Personality. The SID-P uses a semi structured interview format to assess for symptoms of personality disorders. Scores one each item range from 0 to 3 and high scores indicate symptoms of borderline personality disorder and levels of impairment.
Change in symptoms using the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ)
Self-reported and parent reported depressive and manic symptoms will be measured via the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ). Responses are made on a 3-point scale ("0=not true", "1=sometimes true" and "2=true").
Change in symptoms using the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ)
Self-reported and parent reported depressive and manic symptoms will be measured via the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ). Responses are made on a 3-point scale ("0=not true", "1=sometimes true" and "2=true").
Secondary outcomes
Childhood Trust Events Survey (CTES)
Youth will complete the Childhood Trust Events Survey (CTES) long-form, adolescent version, a 30-item self-report screening survey that assesses exposure to adversity across a breadth of domains including physical, emotional, and sexual abuse; alcohol/drug users in home; family members in prison; caregiver with mental illness; domestic violence; loss/separation from caregiver; and other traumatic events. In addition, the CTES queries the age and perceived intensity of each type of adversity. Parents will complete the caregiver version of the CTES, a 26-item survey that asks if their child has been exposed to the same domains of adversity as queried in the adolescent version.
Change in parental psychological distress using the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90)
The Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) is 90-item parent-reported measure used to assess symptoms and complaints that parents may have. It assesses the following dimensions: somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, psychoticism, and other.
Change in parental psychological distress using the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90)
The Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) is 90-item parent-reported measure used to assess symptoms and complaints that parents may have. It assesses the following dimensions: somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, psychoticism, and other.
Change in parental psychological distress using the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90)
The Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) is 90-item parent-reported measure used to assess symptoms and complaints that parents may have. It assesses the following dimensions: somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, psychoticism, and other.
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