Adolescent - Emotional Problem, Emotion Regulation, Self-harm
Conditions
Keywords
self-harm, Emotion regulation, Group treatment, Adolescents
Brief summary
Deliberate self-harm (DSH) is a prevalent behaviour among adolescents but there is no current recommendation for an efficacious treatment. Emotion regulation group therapy (ERGT) is a brief treatment for DSH with a well-documented utility and feasibility in the adult population, and an adapted version for adolescents may provide equal benefits for adolescents, provided adjustments to prevent or decrease social contagion are present. A quantitative feasibility open trial (N=20) followed up by a qualitative interview study will examine the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effect of ERGT for adolescents.
Detailed description
Deliberate self-harm (DSH) is a prevalent behaviour among adolescents but there is no current recommendation for an efficacious treatment. Emotion regulation group therapy (ERGT) is a brief treatment for DSH with a well-documented utility and feasibility in the adult population, and an adapted version for adolescents may provide equal benefits for adolescents, provided adjustments to prevent or decrease social contagion are present. Adaptations to ERGT will result in a 12 session long treatment for adolescents Emotion regulation group therapy for Adolescents (ERGT-A). A parallel parent group focused on strengthening parental skills will be given alongside ERGT-A (5 sessions) Method: A quantitative feasibility open trial (N=20) with pre, post and 1 month follow-up assessments will examine the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effect of ERGT for adolescents. Feasibility measures include recruitment rate, proportion beginning treatment, attrition, treatment credibility and satisfaction, negative effects, and alliance. Preliminary effects measures include DSH, emotion regulation ability, anxiety and depression. Method: A qualitative interview study. Using thematic analysis to explore participants' experience of ERGT-A and parent group
Interventions
BEHAVIORALERGT-A
Emotion regulation group therapy for adolescents
Sponsors
Karolinska Institutet
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
Feasibility, open trial
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
13 Years to 17 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
1. 13-17 years of age; 2. having engaged in deliberate self-harm (DSH)-behaviours ≥ 5 times the last year; 3. having engaged in ≥1 DSH episode during the past month; 4. having ongoing psychiatric treatment in the community; 5. having at least one caregiver or other significant adult, committed to participate in the parent program; and 6. stability of psychotropic medications
Exclusion criteria
1. a diagnosis of psychotic, bipolar I disorder or severe social anxiety disorder (SAD); 2. ongoing substance dependence; 3. the presence of co-occurring psychiatric disorders that require immediate treatment; 4. having an autism spectrum disorder together with borderline intellectual disability or having an intellectual disability; 5. insufficient understanding of the Swedish language
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Feasibility measures, negative effects of treatment | at post-treatment EOT (12 weeks) | Low rating on Negative effects Questionnaire (lower= better, min 0-max 20) |
| Feasibility measures, proportion included | through study completion, an average of 1 year | Proportion of participants invited to participate who accepts and is included (higher = better, min 0%- max 100%) |
| Feasibility measures, compliance | Pre-treatment to post-treatment (End of treatment, EOT) (12 weeks) | Compliance, no of sessions attended (\>50%), (higher = better, min 0-max 10) |
| Feasibility measures, attrition | Pre-treatment to post-treatment EOT (12 weeks) | Attrition, percent of included participants who drops out of treatment (lower = better, min 0%- max 100%) |
| Feasibility measures, client satisfaction | at post-treatment EOT (12 weeks) | Mean score on Client satisfaction questionnaire\> 25 (higher= better, min 8-max 32) |
| Feasibility measure, recruitment rate | through study completion, an average of 1 year | Recruitment rate |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Preliminary effect, self harm frequency 1MFU | Post-treatment (EOT) to follow-up (4 weeks) | Mean Deliberate self-harm frequency at post-treatment and 1MFU lower than at post-treatment (min 0-max 100, lower=better) |
| Preliminary effect, emotion dysregulation EOT | Pre-treatment to post-treatment (EOT) (12 weeks) | Mean difficulty in emotion regulation rating (DERS-16) at post-treatment lower than at pre-treatment (min 16, max 80, lower=better) |
| Preliminary effect, emotion dysregulation 1MFU | Post-treatment (EOT) to follow-up (4 weeks) | Mean difficulty in emotion regulation rating (DERS-16) at 1MFU lower than at post-treatment (min 16, max 80, lower=better) |
| Preliminary effect, self harm frequency EOT | Pre-treatment to post-treatment (EOT) (12 weeks) | Mean Deliberate self-harm frequency at post-treatment (min 0-max 100, lower=better) |
Countries
Sweden
Outcome results
None listed