Comprehensive dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents in a juvenile correctional treatment center: a pilot evaluation
BackgroundIncarcerated youth commonly present with emotion dysregulation, aggression, and comorbid psychiatric disorders, yet often do not receive necessary mental health treatment while confined. It is therefore crucial to expand the evidence base regarding empirically supported mental health inter...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frcha.2023.1207575/full |
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| author | Johanna B. Folk Phillip Yang Anne Thomas Jayme Lyon Jaisal Patel Clara Yoon Barbara Robles-Ramamurthy Barbara Robles-Ramamurthy Barbara Robles-Ramamurthy |
| author_facet | Johanna B. Folk Phillip Yang Anne Thomas Jayme Lyon Jaisal Patel Clara Yoon Barbara Robles-Ramamurthy Barbara Robles-Ramamurthy Barbara Robles-Ramamurthy |
| author_sort | Johanna B. Folk |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundIncarcerated youth commonly present with emotion dysregulation, aggression, and comorbid psychiatric disorders, yet often do not receive necessary mental health treatment while confined. It is therefore crucial to expand the evidence base regarding empirically supported mental health interventions which are feasible to implement in secure settings to address incarcerated youth's mental health needs. Through a community-academic partnership, the current pilot study evaluated a comprehensive dialectical behavior therapy program implemented in a juvenile correctional treatment center.MethodsYouth participants (N = 113) were on average 15.37 years old (SD = 1.10, range = 13–17), 68.1% boys, and identified as 69.0% Latinx, 22.1% Black, 8.0% White, and 0.9% Native American. Youth received comprehensive dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents (DBT-A), including individual therapy, skills training groups, family therapy, multi-family skills training groups, and skills coaching in the milieu by direct care staff who participated in extensive training and ongoing consultation team meetings. As part of a facility-designed program evaluation, youth completed a battery of empirically validated assessments of mental health and emotion regulation prior to and following completion of the program.ResultsResults show that comprehensive DBT-A is feasible to implement in a juvenile correctional treatment center and overall, youth improved from pre- to post-treatment in mental health symptoms and emotion regulation, with small to medium effect sizes.ConclusionThese findings build upon a growing literature showing dialectical behavior therapy is a promising intervention for treating emotion dysregulation and mental health conditions and can be successfully implemented in juvenile forensic settings. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T13:20:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1e20cdb1b3cb4d4e96880a37057fc6fa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2813-4540 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T13:20:15Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj.art-1e20cdb1b3cb4d4e96880a37057fc6fa2023-11-03T10:34:53ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry2813-45402023-11-01210.3389/frcha.2023.12075751207575Comprehensive dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents in a juvenile correctional treatment center: a pilot evaluationJohanna B. Folk0Phillip Yang1Anne Thomas2Jayme Lyon3Jaisal Patel4Clara Yoon5Barbara Robles-Ramamurthy6Barbara Robles-Ramamurthy7Barbara Robles-Ramamurthy8Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United StatesSchool of Medicine, University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United StatesBexar County Juvenile Probation Department, San Antonio, TX, United StatesBexar County Juvenile Probation Department, San Antonio, TX, United StatesSchool of Medicine, University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United StatesSchool of Medicine, University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United StatesSchool of Medicine, University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United StatesBexar County Juvenile Probation Department, San Antonio, TX, United StatesDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United StatesBackgroundIncarcerated youth commonly present with emotion dysregulation, aggression, and comorbid psychiatric disorders, yet often do not receive necessary mental health treatment while confined. It is therefore crucial to expand the evidence base regarding empirically supported mental health interventions which are feasible to implement in secure settings to address incarcerated youth's mental health needs. Through a community-academic partnership, the current pilot study evaluated a comprehensive dialectical behavior therapy program implemented in a juvenile correctional treatment center.MethodsYouth participants (N = 113) were on average 15.37 years old (SD = 1.10, range = 13–17), 68.1% boys, and identified as 69.0% Latinx, 22.1% Black, 8.0% White, and 0.9% Native American. Youth received comprehensive dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents (DBT-A), including individual therapy, skills training groups, family therapy, multi-family skills training groups, and skills coaching in the milieu by direct care staff who participated in extensive training and ongoing consultation team meetings. As part of a facility-designed program evaluation, youth completed a battery of empirically validated assessments of mental health and emotion regulation prior to and following completion of the program.ResultsResults show that comprehensive DBT-A is feasible to implement in a juvenile correctional treatment center and overall, youth improved from pre- to post-treatment in mental health symptoms and emotion regulation, with small to medium effect sizes.ConclusionThese findings build upon a growing literature showing dialectical behavior therapy is a promising intervention for treating emotion dysregulation and mental health conditions and can be successfully implemented in juvenile forensic settings.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frcha.2023.1207575/fulldialectical behavior therapy for adolescentsforensic psychologyadolescentmental healthjuvenile justice |
| spellingShingle | Johanna B. Folk Phillip Yang Anne Thomas Jayme Lyon Jaisal Patel Clara Yoon Barbara Robles-Ramamurthy Barbara Robles-Ramamurthy Barbara Robles-Ramamurthy Comprehensive dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents in a juvenile correctional treatment center: a pilot evaluation Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents forensic psychology adolescent mental health juvenile justice |
| title | Comprehensive dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents in a juvenile correctional treatment center: a pilot evaluation |
| title_full | Comprehensive dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents in a juvenile correctional treatment center: a pilot evaluation |
| title_fullStr | Comprehensive dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents in a juvenile correctional treatment center: a pilot evaluation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Comprehensive dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents in a juvenile correctional treatment center: a pilot evaluation |
| title_short | Comprehensive dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents in a juvenile correctional treatment center: a pilot evaluation |
| title_sort | comprehensive dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents in a juvenile correctional treatment center a pilot evaluation |
| topic | dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents forensic psychology adolescent mental health juvenile justice |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frcha.2023.1207575/full |
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