Predictors and effects of support person involvement in the Youth -Nominated Support Team -Version 1 intervention for suicidal youth.

Abstract

Adolescent suicide continues to be a tragic problem in the United States, with suicide being the 3<super>rd</super> leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 10--19 (CDC, 2000). However, few empirically examined interventions for suicidal ideation and behavior in adolescents currently exist, and they have limited effectiveness (Spirito, Boergers, & Donaldson, 2000). The Youth-Nominated Support Team-Version I (YST-1) is a psychoeducational, social network intervention designed to supplement already existing treatments for suicidal youth, such as psychotherapy and medication (King, Kramer, Preuss, Weisse, & Venkataraman, 2004). Adolescents participating in YST-1 nominate up to four people from their lives who participate in a psychoeducation session and provide regular support. The present study examined predictors of support persons' extent of involvement in YST-1. Participants included 149 adolescents (102 females), ages 12 to 17 years (<italic>M</italic> = 15.4 years; <italic> SD</italic> = 1.5 years), who met inclusion criteria for suicidality, as well as the support persons they nominated. Participants were recruited from the psychiatric inpatient units of two large midwestern hospitals. Baseline assessment of the youth occurred either during or shortly after hospitalization. Follow-up assessments occurred 6 months after the baseline evaluation. The battery gathered information regarding the adolescent's levels of suicidal ideation, depressive symptoms, internalizing and externalizing behavior, substance use, and degree of impairment in functioning. It is hypothesized that characteristics of the youth and the support person will predict the support persons' extent of involvement in YST-1. Specifically, it is expected that the adolescent's age, gender, and psychopathology will predict support persons involvement. It is also expected that the support person's socioeconomic status, age, gender, and the role they have in the youth's life (e.g. parent) will predict their involvement. Finally, it is hypothesized that the support person's extent of involvement will predict improvements in adolescent functioning. Adolescent demographic variables did not predict support person involvement in YST-1. Furthermore, there was no consistent pattern in the relationship between adolescent functioning and support person involvement. The support person variables that were found to have an association with their involvement in YST-1 included support person's age, gender, and relationship with the youth. Exploratory analyses examined the effects of having specific support persons on adolescents' improvement in functioning. The results have implications for the continued development of YST to treat suicidal adolescents.