A New Clinical Model for the Engagement of Latinx Youth with Suicidal Behavior

Launched by BRADLEY HOSPITAL · Mar 17, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying a new way to help Latinx youth who are experiencing thoughts of suicide and their families. The goal is to provide culturally relevant treatment to these young people, with some receiving extra support from a community health worker (CHW). This worker will help guide families and ensure they feel supported throughout the treatment process. The study will follow the youth and their families for nine months to see how well this approach works in improving their mental health and family involvement in treatment.

To be eligible for this trial, participants need to be Latinx, which means they must have ties to Latin America either by being born there or having family from there. They should also be experiencing severe thoughts of suicide or depressive symptoms. Both the young person and their caregiver must speak either Spanish or English, and the caregiver must agree to be involved in the study. It's important to note that if someone has other specific mental health issues, they may be referred to a different program instead. Overall, this study aims to find effective ways to support Latinx youth in crisis and their families during a challenging time.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Latinx, defined as have been born in a Latin country or having at least one biological parent, grandparent or an ancestor that was born in a Latin country
• * Severe Suicidal Ideation (SI), defined as one of the following:
• • SIQ-JR \> 22 or endorsing any critical items (2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9) with at least "about 1x/month"
• • CDI-II \> 15 and endorsing "I think about killing myself but would not do it" OR "I think about killing myself."
• • PHQ-9 \> 10 \& endorsing the item "Thoughts that you would be better off dead, or of hurting yourself in some way" with a frequency of "several days" or greater or endorsing the item "Has there been a time in the past month when you have had serious thoughts about ending your life?
• • Suicidal crisis within the past 12 months
• • Caregivers and adolescents fluent in Spanish or English language and legal guardian willing to participate
• Exclusion Criteria:
• * Participants will be referred to a different treatment program if their main clinical complaint is any of the following:
• • Behavioral (e.g., conduct disorder, or substance use disorder)
• • An eating disorder
• • Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• • A developmental issue (e.g., speech, occupational, families looking for assessments, treatment for autism) or a significant cognitive delay that may require specialized treatment adjustments.