Behavioral and Affective Skills in Coping (BASIC) Open Trial
Condition: Anxiety Disorders; Depressive Disorders; Disruptive Behavior Disorders
MeSH terms: Depressive Disorder; Anxiety Disorders; Mental Disorders; Problem Behavior; Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The overall objective of the project is to develop and assess the feasibility of a brief,
      practice-friendly approach to psychotherapy for children, entitled Behavioral and Affective
      Skills in Coping (BASIC) and designed for use as a first step toward evidence-based practice
      by practitioners in clinical service settings.
    

Detailed description: 
      The investigators seek to develop a treatment protocol that integrates five core intervention
      principles that are common to evidence-based treatments for youth depression, anxiety, and
      disruptive behavior problems. The protocol will be designed for implementation in everyday
      community practice settings by practitioners. Because many empirically supported treatments
      for youth disorders address only one area of impairment, they may not be an ideal fit to
      community clinics, where (a) most practitioners treat an array of disorders rather than
      specializing in just one, (b) most referred youths present with multiple disorders, and (c)
      priority problems and treatment needs may shift for many youths during an episode of care.
      Moreover, because many evidence-based treatments have been developed in research settings,
      they may not be designed in ways that are ideal for front-line therapists in community
      settings. The investigators hope to reduce the difficulty of transporting treatments into
      community practice by incorporating the perspectives of community practitioners in the
      development and design of the protocol. By incorporating the feedback of expert treatment
      developers, the investigators hope to ensure that BASIC is not only appealing to users but
      also consistent with what has been learned through treatment research over the years.
      Finally, the trial will provide preliminary evidence on whether this brief "first course" in
      evidence-based treatment is beneficial for youths with depression, anxiety, and disruptive
      behavior problems-three clusters that account for a large percentage of youth referrals.
    

Intervention name(s): Behavioral and Affective Skills in Coping (BASIC)
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The investigator's seek to develop a treatment protocol that integrates five core intervention principles that are common to evidence-based treatments for youth depression, anxiety, and disruptive behavior problems. The protocol will be designed for implementation in everyday community practice settings by practitioners. The BASIC protocol will include (a) a therapist manual guiding the use of five BASIC skills [Belief Repair, Action, Solving Problems, Incentives, and Calming]; (b) child and parent materials to facilitate learning skills, practicing them in-session, and using them outside sessions; and (c) a decision tree to guide judgments about which skills to use and when to switch skills or treatment focus.
Intervention model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment