Interrupting Self-Harm Study

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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My study will employ a convergent mixed methods two-arm parallel randomized controlled design. The qualitative strand will primarily rely on semi-structured interview procedures to answer the following questions: (1) How do adolescents perceive and experience the phenomenon of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI)? (2) What do adolescents believe needs to be done to address NSSI? The quantitative strand will primarily rely on clinical interview data, self-report measures, and an experimental task protocol to answer the following question: What is the impact of a brief mindfulness induction (versus a control condition) on self-injury attentional bias among self-injuring adolescents?

Official Title
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A Mixed Methods Investigation of Brief Mindfulness Training and Self-injury Attentional Bias Among Self-injuring Adolescents

Conditions
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Nonsuicidal Self-injury

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Mindfulness


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: To be included in the study, a participant must be: 1) at least 12 years old and no more than 18 years old, 2) able to understand and communicate in English, 3) willing and able to participate in all study procedures, and 4) currently engaging in nonsuicidal self-injury OR have a history of nonsuicidal self-injury. Exclusion Criteria: Individuals will be excluded from the study if they are experiencing a suicidal crisis at the time of the study procedures (e.g., they endorse suicidal ideation, planning, and intent as determined by the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview 7.0) and require crisis intervention or hospitalization.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 12 Years
Maximum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Mindfulness condition<br>The brief mindfulness induction will be modeled after basic mindfulness skills commonly used in mindfulness-based interventions and tailored to target distressing thoughts and feelings. | Behavioral: Mindfulness<br>* Participants will be instructed to focus on the sensations of breathing. Subsequently, whenever their minds wander to distressing thoughts or emotions, they will be instructed to acknowledge those thoughts or emotions, and then bring their attention back to the sensations of breathing.<br>|
| No Intervention: Control condition<br>Participants assigned to the control task will be instructed to let your mind wander freely without trying to focus on anything in particular. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in self-injury attentional bias as measured by a Dot Probe Paradigm | Attentional bias (AB) refers to the allocation of attentional resources to specific aspects of environmental stimuli | The Dot Probe Paradigm will be administered immediately preceding the mindfulness or control conditions and immediately following the mindfulness or control conditions |