Testing FIRST in Youth Outpatient Psychotherapy

Launched by HARVARD UNIVERSITY · Jan 23, 2021

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying a new treatment called FIRST, which stands for "Focused Interventions for Stressful Transitions," to see how it helps young people with mental health issues like anxiety, depression, trauma, and behavior problems. FIRST is designed to work on common emotional challenges and is being compared to regular therapy to determine which is more effective in improving mental health and managing negative emotions.

The trial is looking for children and teenagers aged 7 to 15 who show signs of anxiety, depression, or other behavioral issues. To participate, they need to speak English and have scores that indicate they are experiencing significant mental health challenges. However, those with serious issues like current suicide risk, certain eating disorders, or other specific diagnoses won’t be eligible. Participants will receive either the FIRST treatment or usual care and will be monitored to see how their mental health improves over time. This is a great opportunity for eligible youths to receive support while contributing to important research in mental health treatments.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • ages 7.0-15.9 years
• • at least one clinically-relevant CBCL subscale score indicating borderline/clinical-range anxiety, depression, conduct problems, or post-traumatic stress
• • English fluency indicated by taking all school classes in English
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • current suicide risk, operationalized as active suicidal ideation or a history of suicide attempt or inpatient hospitalization for suicide risk within the last 3 months
• • presence of an eating disorder, schizophrenia spectrum disorder, autism spectrum disorder, or intellectual disability requiring special class placement in school
• • referral for ADHD if specifically and exclusively to address inattentiveness and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity