The Youth-Nominated Support Team-Version II for suicidal adolescents: A randomized controlled intervention trial

Area of Science:

• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Mental Health Interventions
• Suicidology

Background:

• Suicidal adolescents require effective interventions to supplement standard treatments.
• Social support and health behavior models inform interventions for youth mental health.
• The Youth-Nominated Support Team-Version II (YST-II) was developed to enhance support for suicidal youth.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of the Youth-Nominated Support Team-Version II (YST-II) intervention for psychiatrically hospitalized, suicidal adolescents.
• To determine if YST-II, when added to treatment-as-usual (TAU), improves outcomes compared to TAU alone.
• To examine differential effects of YST-II based on history of suicide attempts.

Main Methods:

• Randomized controlled trial comparing TAU + YST-II (n=223) versus TAU only (n=225) in adolescents aged 13-17.
• YST-II involved psychoeducation for youth-nominated adults and supportive contact for 3 months post-hospitalization.
• Standardized measures assessed suicidal ideation, depression, hopelessness, and functional impairment.

Main Results:

• YST-II demonstrated limited positive effects, moderated by suicide attempt history.
• Multiple suicide attempters showed faster decreases in suicidal ideation (SIQ-JR) in the first 6 weeks.
• Non-multiple attempters experienced greater functional improvement (CAFAS) at 3 and 12 months.

Conclusions:

• YST-II had minimal impact on overall suicidal ideation and no effect on suicide attempts.
• The intervention showed potential benefits for specific subgroups of suicidal adolescents.
• Further research may be needed to optimize social support interventions for adolescent suicidality.