Implementation of a Brief Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) Skills Group in High Schools for At-Risk Youth: Going 4 Goals Protocol (Preprint)

Abstract

Adolescence is a developmental period marked by engaging in risk-taking behaviors, with higher risk among youth who are impulsive or emotionally dysregulated. Thus, interventions that teach skills to reduce the risk for negative outcomes as a consequence of dysregulation are needed. Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs have been developed to address both adolescent emotion dysregulation and risk-taking behaviors. However, current programs have mostly been implemented among younger youth and have rarely been empirically evaluated for their effectiveness among high school students.

The primary outcomes of the study are to test whether participating in the skills group intervention produces significant increases in the core DBT-A skills of mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness while also producing significant decreases in substance use and risky behaviors. These primary outcomes are based on changes in participant scores between baseline and post-intervention, as well as follow-ups at 1, 3, and 6 months in comparison to a control group of youth who are participating in the school’s health curriculum at the same time points. A secondary objective of this study is to also examine the acceptability, facilitators and barriers of the intervention through qualitative interviews with intervention participants and school staff. The current paper describes the protocol of the 9 session school-based adaptation of the DBT-A intervention and discussion of the strengths and limitations of the study, as well as future directions.

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