Evaluating the Effectiveness of Motivational Interviewing and a Dialectical Therapy Skills- Based Intervention for Youth
Condition: Concurrent Disorders
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The purpose of this study is to evaluate the preliminary effectiveness and feasibility of an
      integrated treatment approach for youth with concurrent disorders. The combined intervention
      will include individual sessions of Motivational Interviewing, followed by inclusion in a
      Dialectical Behaviour Therapy skills-based group.

      The following main hypotheses will be examined:

        1. Youth with CD who receive an MI intervention will show increased motivation and
           readiness to change from pre to post MI intervention.

        2. Youth with CD who participate in a DBT intervention (orientation session followed by
           12-week DBT skills training group)will show reductions in substance use and improvements
           in mental health, coping and affect regulation between pre to post treatment. The
           investigators expect that these treatment gains will be maintained at three-month
           follow-up.
    

Detailed description: 
      For this study, the investigators want to treat adolescents with concurrent disorders.
      Eligible subjects will be invited to participate in the combined intervention described in
      detail below.

      In order to determine eligibility, designated research staff will conduct a phone screen
      interview with interested youth (ages 14 - 18). Candidates will be asked questions about
      their current mental health and substance use status. Based on the information obtained in
      this interview, those youth who report co-occurring mental health and substance use problems
      will be asked to complete three internet-based self-report questionnaires using a designated
      link and unique identification numbers. Once the information from this assessment is
      collected and scored by research personnel, those candidates who meet the criteria for this
      study will be asked to participate in the remaining portion of the study. These subjects will
      be required to meet with the research assistant in person to complete a computer-based
      self-administered structured diagnostic interview and self-report questionnaires.

      If eligible and interested, subjects will be asked to meet with a therapist for one
      individual session of MI. These sessions will assess subjects' readiness to engage in
      treatment, and help identify treatment goals and any barriers that may make treatment
      difficult.

      After these sessions, subjects will be invited to attend a DBT-focused orientation prior to
      joining the 12-week skills group. The investigators expect to have approximately 8 youth in
      each group and each session will run for 2 hours, weekly. The purpose of these group sessions
      is to learn skills that will help subjects cope in healthier ways. The following skills will
      be taught: (1) interpersonal effectiveness; (2) emotion regulation; (3) distress tolerance:
      and (4) mindfulness. The use of skills will be geared to addressing substance use problems
      and other mental health issues (e.g. anxiety, depression, self-harm, etc.).

      Participants will be asked to complete questionnaires at the following time-points:
      screening, baseline, post-MI (2 weeks), mid-DBT (8 weeks), post-DBT (14 weeks), and at 14
      weeks follow-up. Participants will be offered financial compensation upon completion of each
      assessment package.
    

Intervention name(s): MI and DBT; MI and DBT
Intervention type(s): Other; Other
Intervention description(s): One individual session of Motivational Interview followed by 12 weeks of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy group skills training; Individual Motivational Interview session plus 12-week Dialectical Behaviour Therapy skills group
Other intervention name(s): Integrated individual and group treatment
Intervention model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Concurrent Disorders; Adolescents; Motivational Interviewing; Dialectical Behaviour Therapy; Caregiver Burden