Early Intervention for Suicide Risk Among Immigrant Youth
- Conditions
- Suicidal IdeationFamily Conflict
- Interventions
- Behavioral: Early Intervention for Suicide Risk Among Immigrant YouthBehavioral: Enhanced usual care
- Registration Number
- NCT03221530
- Lead Sponsor
- Massachusetts General Hospital
- Brief Summary
The purpose of this project is to develop and test a family-based preventive intervention for suicide risk among 1st and 2nd generation immigrant Latino/a adolescents. The intervention will focus on reducing suicide risk by reducing family conflict and intergenerational cultural conflict and improving parent-child communication. The investigators will first develop the 8-session preventive intervention with quantitative data from analysis of existing longitudinal studies and qualitative feedback from Latino youth and their caregivers, clinicians, administrators, and research consultants, as well as results from initial pilot testing of the intervention. The investigators will then conduct a pilot randomized trial with 40 adolescents and their families to test feasibility, acceptability, and impact on intervention targets. Successful development of the intervention would improve mental health outcomes for a growing and underserved portion of the U.S. population.
- Detailed Description
Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among adolescents, with rates increasing between 1999 and 2014. Family-based preventive interventions demonstrate promise for reducing suicide risk among adolescents, and are particularly relevant for addressing suicide risk factors specific to immigrant youth, who comprise one-fourth of the U.S. population under 18. The purpose of this project is to develop and test a family-based preventive intervention for suicide risk among 1st and 2nd generation immigrant Latino/a adolescents. In the first phase of intervention development, quantitative and qualitative data will be used to develop and if necessary refine a new family based preventive intervention (Early Intervention for Suicide Risk among Immigrant Youth, EISR-I). The investigators will then test the intervention in a pilot case series in order to finalize assessment and intervention protocols. In the second phase, the investigators will pilot test the preventive intervention, delivered by mental health clinicians to 1st and 2nd generation Latino/a early adolescents and their families, in order to assess feasibility, acceptability, and impact on the intervention targets (i.e. a positive signal of the intervention) on the study population. Twenty families will be randomized to receive the 8-session intervention and twenty will receive enhanced usual care including a safety planning and feedback session.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- UNKNOWN
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 40
- Latino
- First generation (foreign-born) or second-generation (at least one parent foreign-born) immigrant
- 12 to 15 years old
- Speaks English or Spanish
- Reports current suicidal ideation with no plan, past-year suicidal ideation, or a suicide plan more than three months prior OR has a CAT-SS score>34
- Suicide attempt in the past three months
- Endorses psychotic symptoms on a pre-study screener
- Has severe major depressive disorder
- Has a prior diagnosis of severe intellectual disability
- Receiving individual or family therapy
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description EISR-I Early Intervention for Suicide Risk Among Immigrant Youth Participants in the Early Intervention for Suicide Risk Among Immigrant Youth (EISR-I) family-based intervention will attend 8 in-person sessions with at least one parent/guardian. Enhanced usual care Enhanced usual care Participants in the usual care arm will receive a safety planning and assessment feedback session from the research team and will receive usual care in the behavioral health clinic where the study takes place.
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale Screener (C-SSRS); change from baseline at multiple time points baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months A self-report scale of suicidal ideation, plans and attempts
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Computerized Adaptive Test - Suicide Scale (CAT-SS); change from baseline at multiple time points baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months A computerized adaptive suicide scale that provides a continuous self-report measure of suicide risk
Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale; change from baseline at multiple time points baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months A self-report measure of the quality of communication between adolescent and parent.
Family Relationship Index; change from baseline at multiple time points baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months A self-report measure that provides an overall index of the quality of the family environment, as well as subscores that reflect family cohesion, expressiveness, and conflict.
Family Cultural Conflict Scale; change from baseline at multiple time points baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months A self-report measure of conflicts within a family related to cultural values and practices.