Development of a transdiagnostic, resilience-focused intervention for at-risk adolescents

Abstract

Background

Environmental adversity and subclinical symptoms of psychopathology in adolescents increase their risk for developing a future psychiatric disorder, yet interventions that may prevent poor outcomes in these vulnerable adolescents are not widely available.

Aims

To develop and test the feasibility and acceptability of a prevention-focused program to enhance resilience in high-risk adolescents.

Method

Adolescents with subclinical psychopathology living in a predominantly low-income, Latinx immigrant community were identified during pediatrician visits. A group-based intervention focused on teaching emotion recognition and regulation skills was piloted in three cohorts of adolescents (n = 11, 10, and 7, respectively), using a single arm design. The second and third iterations included sessions with parents.

Results

Eighty-eight percent of participants completed the program, which was rated as beneficial. Also, from baseline to end of treatment, there was a significant decrease in subclinical symptoms and a significant increase in the adolescents’ positive social attribution bias (all p < 0.05).

Conclusions

A resilience-focused intervention administered to high-risk adolescents was found to be feasible and acceptable to participants. Future work is needed to determine whether such a program can reduce the incidence of negative outcomes, such as the development of psychiatric disorders and related disability, in this population.

Keywords:

• Prevention
• transdiagnostic
• community psychiatry
• adolescent psychopathology
• environmental risk
• Latinx mental health

Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the critical assistance of Rebecca Lambert, M.D., Sara Nelson M.D., Rebecca Cronin, M.D., Nancy Lundy, Ed.D., Mary Lyons-Hunter, Psy.D., Kelsey Han, M.D., Francisco Palacios Bustamante, M.D., Maria Luisa Victoria, Ph.D., and Leah Namey, M.P.H. in the design and execution of this project.

Disclosure statement

Dr. Clauss, Ms. Bhiku, Dr. Burke, Ms. Pimentel-Diaz, Dr. DeTore, Ms. Zapetis, Ms. Zvonar, Ms. Kritikos, Dr. Canenguez, Dr. Cather, and Dr. Holt report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

Massachusetts General Hospital Center of Excellence for Psychosocial and Systemic Research [MA DMH SCDMH822019083980000], The Sidney R. Baer, Jr Foundation, Massachusetts General Hospital Executive Committee on Research and the Research Scholar Program, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Pilot Award for Junior Faculty and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellows, Translational Neuroscience Training for Clinicians [5T32MH112485], and the Louis V. Gerstner III Research Scholar Award. The content of this manuscript is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.