Preventing Suicide in African American Adolescents

The overarching aim of the Success Over Stress Prevention Project is to reduce African American youth suicide. This study examines the impact of a 15-session, group-delivered, culturally-grounded, cognitive-behavioral intervention (i.e., PI Robinson's Adapted-Coping with Stress Course [A-CWS]), on the outcomes of interest, when it is delivered by social workers who are indigenous to the school system. The main objectives of this project are to (a) determine whether the intervention is effective when facilitated by social workers who are indigenous to the school system and (b) enhance resilience, increase adaptive coping strategies, and reduce both intrapersonal and interpersonal violence among youth receiving the prevention intervention. It is expected that increases in adaptive coping will lead to an increased ability for youth to manage stressors, thereby decreasing the incidence of suicide and violence among the youth. In addition, it is expected that evidence of the intervention's effectiveness, when facilitated by social workers who are indigenous to the school system, will lead to greater dissemination and sustainability of the intervention, thus, providing access to effective intervention resources to greater numbers of African American youth.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Suicide
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Robinson's Culturally Adapted Coping with Stress Course (A-CWS); Behavioral: Standard Care Control Condition

Detailed Description

This study will establish the effectiveness of Robinson's Adapted-Coping with Stress Course (A-CWS) and test hypotheses pertaining to the mechanism of change by which the A-CWS reduces suicide risk. Additionally, this study is expected to augment current theoretical models of adolescent suicidality. This effectiveness trial will inform procedures for scaling up efficacious, high quality, and culturally-grounded suicide prevention programs for low-resourced, urban African American youth; as such, this study is practice relevant and expected to inform best practices for the prevention of suicide among African American adolescents. The specific aims are:

1. To examine the effectiveness of the A-CWS intervention, as delivered by social workers who are indigenous to the school system, to reduce active suicidal ideation, within a sample of low-resourced, urban African American adolescents.
2. To understand the mechanism by which the A-CWS intervention reduces suicide risk for low-resourced, urban African American adolescents.
3. To establish the fidelity of an evidence-based, culturally-grounded coping with stress intervention (i.e., the A-CWS), developed for low-resourced, urban African American adolescents, delivered by social workers indigenous to the school system.
4. To understand the extent that thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and socio-ecological factors influence the development of active suicidal ideation.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 812
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: LaVome Robinson, PhD; Phone Number: 773-325-4260; Email: lrobinso@depaul.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Leonard Jason, PhD; Phone Number: 772-325-2018; Email: ljason@depaul.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Illinois
    • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60612
      • Recruiting
      • Richard T. Crane High School
      • Contact: Mary Nykiel; Phone Number: 773-534-7600; Email: mjresendiz@cps.edu
      • Contact: Logan Bessell; Phone Number: 773-534-7600; Email: lcbessell@cps.edu
    • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60614
      • Enrolling by invitation
      • DePaul University
    • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60616
      • Recruiting
      • Dunbar Vocational Career Academy
      • Contact: Shameika Lee; Phone Number: 773-534-9000; Email: sslee2@cps.edu
      • Contact: Regina Carter-Trice, DSW; Phone Number: 773-534-9000; Email: rlcarter@cps.edu
    • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60624
      • Recruiting
      • Orr Academy High School
      • Contact: Kevin Jackson, M.Ed.,MSW; Phone Number: 773-534-6500; Email: kjjackson@cps.edu
      • Contact: Shanele Andrews, Ed,D.; Phone Number: 773-534-6500; Email: seandrews@cps.edu
    • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60653
      • Recruiting
      • Wendell Phillips Academy High School
      • Contact: Cynthia Alexander, NBCT; Phone Number: 773-535-1603; Email: clmccullough@cps.edu
      • Contact: Rashad Talley, Ed.S.; Phone Number: 773-535-0158; Email: rjtalley@cps.edu
    • Maywood, Illinois, United States, 60153
      • Not yet recruiting
      • Proviso East High School
      • Contact: Rachel Hogue, LSW; Phone Number: 708-449-9524; Email: rhogue@luc.edu
      • Contact: Rodney Hull; Phone Number: 708-344-5942; Email: rhull@pths209.org

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 12 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Students: Enrolled 9th grade student at time of initial enrollment at participating high school
• Parents/guardians: Child enrolled in study
• Teachers: Student enrolled in study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Not a 9th grade student at time of initial enrollment
• No parent/legal guardian permission
• For parents and teachers: no students enrolled in study

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Robinson's Culturally Adapted Coping with Stress Course	Behavioral: Robinson's Culturally Adapted Coping with Stress Course (A-CWS); Participants randomized to the experimental condition will take part in the Adapted Coping with Stress Course (A-CWS). The A-CWS is a 15-session, cognitive-behavioral group intervention designed to develop and enhance African American youths' skills to adaptively cope with stress, using standard cognitive-behavioral strategies such as relaxation training and cognitive restructuring. Emphasis is given to the identification of individual and contextual factors associated with suicide risk and the unique day-to-day experiences of the youth, providing options for adaptive coping (e.g., positive thinking) that are culturally consistent. The A-CWS is structured and manualized to allow its transportability to service providers working in similar environments with similar youth.
Active Comparator: Standard Care Control Condition	Behavioral: Standard Care Control Condition; Students meeting criteria for study inclusion and randomized into the standard care condition will be referred to the school-based health center (SBHC) mental health provider for case management. Standard care may range from (1) brief intervention by the SBHC mental health provider to (2) outside referral to local community service providers; these determinations will be made by the SBHC mental health team.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Suicide Ideation	Suicide ideation will be measured using the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire (SIQ-JR), a 15-item measure of adolescents' distress and suicidal intent. Scale scores range from 0 to 90, with higher scores meaning a worse outcome (i.e., greater suicide ideation).	Assessments will be administered through study completion, an average of every six months.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Adaptive Coping	Adaptive Coping will be measured using The Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Behaviors (A-COPE), which is a 54 item self-report questionnaire that measures coping strategies among adolescents	Assessments will be administered through study completion, an average of every six months.
Change in Hope	Hope will be measured using the The Children's Hope Scale (CHS), a six-item self-report measure of children's perceived interpersonal competencies, including the belief that their goals can be met.	Assessments will be administered through study completion, an average of every six months.
Change in Hopelessness	Hopelessness will be measured using the Hopelessness Scale for Children (HSC). The HSC consists of 17 true-false items. The domains measured include: feelings about the future, loss of motivation, and future expectations	Assessments will be administered through study completion, an average of every six months.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: DePaul University
• Collaborators: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: LaVome Robinson, PhD, DePaul University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 1, 2022
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 29, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 31, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): February 5, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 7, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 5, 2023
• Last Verified: September 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Prevention; Suicide; Coping; Hopelessness; Hope; African American Adolescents
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Self-Injurious Behavior; Suicide
• Other Study ID Numbers: LR060519PSY; 1R01MH1183182 (Other Grant/Funding Number: NIMH)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No