Socio-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Suicidal Behavior With a Puerto Rican Male Adolescent

ABSTRACT

In 2015, 15% of Puerto Rican adolescents attempted suicide. In general, adolescent females have more suicidal thoughts, whereas male adolescents are more likely to die by suicide. However, few evidence-based treatments have been developed for this population. The aim of this study was to illustrate the therapeutic process of a male Puerto Rican adolescent treated with the socio-cognitive behavioral therapy for suicidal behavior (SCBT-SB), a culturally informed protocol, and to discuss how developmental, feminist, and family system perspectives were incorporated in the SCBT-SB treatment model. A case study is presented: Julio received the SCBT-SB after a psychiatric hospitalization subsequent to threating to commit suicide. Baseline and posttreatment assessments evaluated diagnosis, risk factors (e.g., hopelessness), treatment satisfaction, and suicidal behaviors. Julio demonstrated clinically significant change in depressive symptoms, hopelessness, suicidal ideation, and aggressive/impulsive behaviors. The SCBT-SB was feasible to implement and proved acceptable to the client and his family.

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported primary by the Grant 1-YIG-xxxx-00047 by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and by the Grant K23 MH097772 by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) awarded to Yovanska Duarté-Vélez. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the AFSP neither the NIMH. It was also supported by the Institute for Psychological Research at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus.