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Principal Investigator: Carolina Vélez-Grau
Organization: BOSTON COLLEGE
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $196,992
Funding agency: National Institute of Mental Health
Over the past decade, youth reports of poor mental health, sadness, hopelessness, and suicide ideation have significantly increased. Suicide ideation is a risk factor for suicide attempts and death by suicide. Key risk factors include depression symptoms, low sense of belonging, and feeling like a burden. Structural factors, such as limited access to care and mistrust of the mental health system, exacerbate these risks. Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Adolescents (IPT-A; 12-16 sessions) is an effective, evidence-based intervention that improves interpersonal functioning, reduces depressive symptoms, and decreases suicide ideation. Brief IPT-A (BIPT-A; 6-8 sessions), integrated into community settings and delivered by lay providers (task-shifting), offers a promising upstream approach to suicide prevention and closing the youth mental health access gap. However, research is needed to examine the feasibility and acceptability of BIPT-A when task-shifted to youth community centers, where youth are. This K23 proposal outlines a comprehensive career development plan to enable the candidate to become an independent clinical investigator with expertise in implementation science and a recognized leader in community capacity-building for youth suicide prevention. The training goals are to: 1) Develop expertise in systematically adapting interventions, 2) Gain expertise in task-shifting for suicide prevention, and 3) Acquire skills in conducting pragmatic, randomized trials to test implementation strategies and youth suicide ideation mechanisms of change. Leveraging partnerships with three youth community centers, the proposed study aims to: (1) Adapt BIPT-A for use by lay providers (youth mentors) in community centers to decrease depression symptoms, increase belongingness, and reduce burdensomeness among youth with subthreshold depression (Aim 1). (2) Train youth mentors in the adapted BIPT-A (Aim 2). (3) Conduct a pilot pragmatic randomized trial to test the feasibility, acceptability, and mechanisms of change of BIPT-A task-shifted to youth mentors (Aim 3). This K23 addresses NIMH's strategic plan by investigating the adaptation and implementation of an evidence-based mental health intervention in real-world settings for youth populations, aiming to prevent suicide, enhance community capacity, and increase access to evidence-based interventions.
Terms: <21+ years old><Access to Care><Address><Adolescent><Adolescent Youth><Adult><Adult Human><Age><Application Context><Area><Boston><Cannot see a future><Clinical><Clinical Investigator><Clinical Trials Design><Collaborations><Communities><Country><Decrease disparity><Deliberate Self-Harm><Depressed mood><Development Plans><Effectiveness><Elements><Emotional Depression><Equity><Ethnic Origin><Ethnicity><Evidence based intervention><Feeling><Feeling hopeless><Feeling suicidal><Feels there is no future><Gender><Generations><Goals><Health Care Providers><Health Personnel><Health Services><Health Services Accessibility><Healthcare Providers><Healthcare worker><Hispanic><Incidence><Intervention><Intervention Strategies><Language><Latina><Latine><Latino><Latinx><Learning><Loss of hope for the future><Lower disparity><Manuals><Mental Depression><Mental Health><Mental Health Services><Mental Hygiene><Mental Hygiene Services><Mentors><NIMH><National Institute of Mental Health><Negative about the future><No hope for the future><Play><Population><Pragmatic clinical trial><Preventative intervention><Preventative strategy><Prevention program><Prevention strategy><Preventive><Preventive strategy><Process><Protocol><Protocols documentation><Provider><Psychological Health><Public Health><R-Series Research Projects><R01 Mechanism><R01 Program><Randomization trial><Reporting><Research><Research Grants><Research Project Grants><Research Projects><Research Resources><Resources><Risk><Risk Factors><Schools><Self-Injurious Behavior><Social Support System><Strategic Planning><Suicidal thoughts><Suicide><Suicide attempt><Suicide precaution><Suicide prevention><Support System><Testing><Training><Training Support><Trust><Uninsured><United States><Youth><Youth 10-21><acceptability and feasibility><access gaps><access to health services><access to services><access to treatment><accessibility to health services><adulthood><aged><ages><availability of services><care access><career development><community building><community center><community centers><community partners><community setting><community-based partners><contextual factors><deliberate self harm><depressed><depression><depression symptom><depressive><depressive symptoms><disadvantaged background><disparity in care><disparity in health><disparity in healthcare><disparity reduction><empowerment><ethnic minority group><ethnic minority individual><ethnic minority people><ethnic minority population><evidence base><fatal attempt><fatal suicide><feasibility testing><feelings><gaps in access><health care disparity><health care inequality><health care inequity><health care personnel><health care worker><health disparity><health equity><health provider><health service access><health services availability><health training><health workforce><healthcare disparity><healthcare inequality><healthcare inequity><healthcare personnel><high risk><hopelessness><implementation determinants><implementation factors><implementation science><implementation strategy><improved><innovate><innovation><innovative><intent to die><intentional self harm><intentional self injury><interpersonal psychotherapy><interpersonal therapy><intervention for prevention><interventional strategy><juvenile><juvenile human><marginalized background><medical personnel><mental health care><mental healthcare><mitigate disparity><mortality><non fatal attempt><nonfatal attempt><population based><post intervention><post-COVID><post-COVID-19><post-coronavirus disease 2019><pragmatic randomized trial><prevent><prevent suicidality><prevent suicide><preventing><prevention intervention><preventional intervention strategy><preventive intervention><primary care setting><randomized trial><reduce disparity><reduction in disparity><sadness><self harm><self injury><service availability><skills><strategies for implementation><structural determinants><structural factors><suicidal attempt><suicidal behavior><suicidal ideation><suicidal morbidity><suicidal risk><suicidal thinking><suicidality prevention><suicide behavior><suicide death><suicide ideation><suicide intervention><suicide morbidity><suicide rate><suicide risk><suicides><thoughts about suicide><treatment access><treatment provider><willingness>