Brief DBT Skills Training for Coping With Suicidal Ideation

Brief Dialectical Behavior Therapy-Skills Training for Coping With Suicidal Ideation: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if Brief Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Training (DBT-BST) can prevent suicidality in adults. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Does DBT-BST provide coping strategies (e.g., emotion regulation) to participants with suicidal ideation?
• Does DBT-BST lower participants' suicide ideation?

Researchers will compare DBT-BST to relaxation to see if DBT-BST works to reduce suicidal ideation.

Participants will:

• Receive DBT-BST in a single 60-minute, in-person, individual session.
• Be asked to use these skills as self-help and for crisis prevention.

Study Overview

• Status: Withdrawn
• Conditions: Coping Skills; Emotion Regulation; Suicide Ideation
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Brief Dialectical Behavior Therapy-Skills Training; Behavioral: Relaxation

• Study Type: Interventional
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Turkey (Türkiye)
  • Aydın
    • Aydin, Aydın, Turkey (Türkiye), 09500
      • Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Suicide and Stress Research Laboratory

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• being 18 years of age or older
• having suicidal ideation in the last 3 months
• not having received any psychological treatment in the last 1 month
• living in Aydın/Türkiye where the intervention will be implemented
• giving consent for participation

Exclusion Criteria:

• not speaking Turkish
• loss or trauma in the last 1 year
• pharmacological treatment

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Brief Dialectical Behavior Therapy-Skills Training	Behavioral: Brief Dialectical Behavior Therapy-Skills Training; The intervention is administered in a single session, lasting approximately 60 minutes and conducted in person. It is important to note that there are no ongoing sessions. In the intervention, participants are provided with 5 basic skills of Dialectical Behavior Therapy: 1) mindfulness, 2) mindfulness of current emotions, 3) opposite-to-emotion action, 4) distraction, and 5) changing body chemistry. These strategies are grouped under 3 categories: 1) Mindfulness, 2) Emotion regulation (mindfulness of current emotions, opposite-to-emotion action), 3) Tolerating distress (distraction, changing body chemistry). These skills are not designed to treat or solve the crisis. The main aim is to provide effective coping mechanisms that can be implemented quickly before the crisis escelates, to help overcome the intense emotional pain and keep the person alive.
Active Comparator: Relaxation control group	Behavioral: Relaxation; The control group will be subjected to a relaxation exercise, with the objective of managing participant expectations, researcher attention/interest, and time spent, as well as providing a coping strategy for stress.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change from Baseline in the Suicidality at 1 Month as Assessed by Suicide Probability Scale	36 is equivalent to the lowest suicidality, and 144 indicates the highest suicidality.	From enrollment to the end of intervention at 1 week and follow-up at 1 month
Change from Baseline in the Suicidal Cognitions at 1 Month as Assessed by Suicide Cognitions Scale	18 is equivalent to the lowest suicidal cognitions, and 90 indicates the highest suicidal cognitions.	From enrollment to the end of intervention at 1 week and follow-up at 1 month
Change from Baseline in the Hopelessness at 1 Month as Assessed by Beck Hopelessness Scale	Zero is equivalent to the lowest hopelessness, and 20 indicates the highest hopelessness.	From enrollment to the end of intervention at 1 week and follow-up at 1 month
Change from Baseline in the Emotion Regulation Skills at 1 Month as Assessed by Emotion Regulation Skills Questionnaire	Zero is equivalent to the lowest emotion regulation skills, and 108 indicates the highest skills.	From enrollment to the end of intervention at 1 week and follow-up at 1 month
Change from Baseline in the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation at 1 Month as Assessed by Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-16	16 is equivalent to the lowest difficulties, and 80 indicates the highest difficulties in emotion regulation.	From enrollment to the end of intervention at 1 week and follow-up at 1 month

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change from Baseline in the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress at 1 Month as Assessed by Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21)	Higher points are equivalent to higher symptoms as assessed by the related subscale of DASS-21. Each subscale ranges from 0 to 28.	From enrollment to the end of intervention at 1 week and follow-up at 1 month

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Muhammed Ali Boztepe

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): October 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 18, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 18, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): June 26, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): September 8, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 2, 2025
• Last Verified: September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Randomized; Dialectical Behavior Therapy; Skills Training; Suicide ideation
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavior; Social Behavior; Self-Control; Emotional Regulation
• Other Study ID Numbers: BriefDBT-ST30/05/2025

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

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