CBITS-RTM Pilot Study

Preventing Substance Use Among Incarcerated Youth Through Addressing Posttraumatic Stress

This pilot study, conducted in partnership with juvenile detention centers, evaluates an adapted CBITS-RTM intervention delivered in a detention school setting.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Substance Use; PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Adapted Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) with a Racial Trauma Module (RTM)

Detailed Description

The study examines the intervention's feasibility and acceptability, as well as its effectiveness in reducing incarcerated youth's posttraumatic stress symptoms, improving academic functioning, and decreasing intentions to use substances post-release.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 28
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Johanna B Folk, PhD; Phone Number: 415-602-9521; Email: johanna.folk@ucsf.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Jeanne McPhee, PhD; Email: jeanne.mcphee@ucsf.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • San Francisco, California, United States, 94131
      • UCSF Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital
      • Contact: Principal Investigator, PhD; Email: johanna.folk@ucsf.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Youth must 1) be currently incarcerated in a partnering juvenile detention center, 2) be between 13-18 years of age, and 3) have a minimum of 3 months remaining on their sentence (i.e., sufficient time required to complete CBITS-RTM). Youth will complete a screening with a study team member involving the 2-item Abbreviated PTSD Checklist-Civilian version, with scores ≥4 considered a positive screen
• Clinicians are eligible if they are behavioral health staff working with youth at the detention school..

Exclusion Criteria:

• Observable cognitive or developmental delays or active psychosis that would interfere with completing consent, assessment or intervention.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Adapted CBITS-RTM Intervention

Behavioral: Adapted Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) with a Racial Trauma Module (RTM); The Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) program is a school-based, group and individual intervention designed to reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and behavioral problems, and to improve functioning, grades and attendance, and coping skills. The CBITS intervention was adapted to juvenile justice settings with an added Racial Trauma Module (RTM), which provides youth with an overview of the effects of racism on levels of traumatic stress.; Other Names: CBITS-RTM

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Child PTSD Symptom Scale (CPSS)	The CPSS is used to measure posttraumatic stress among youth (8-18 years). It assesses past month posttraumatic stress symptom severity and impairment of endorsed symptoms on daily functioning. Scores range from 0-80, with 31+ indicating probable PTSD.	Baseline, 3 months post-baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Youth Alcohol and Drug Use Survey	The Youth Alcohol and Drug Use Survey will be used to gather youth's intention to use substances post-release using items rated on a scale from 1 (unlikely) to 10 (very likely).	Baseline, 3 months post-baseline
Texas Christian University (TCU) Drug Screen	The TCU will be administered to gather information on substance use quantity and frequency as well as risk for SUD (corresponds with DSM-5 criteria) on the 3-months prior to incarceration and past 3 months at post-release.	Baseline, 3-months post-baseline

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Youth Background Characteristics	Demographics questionnaire used to gather standard demographics (e.g., age, gender, race) and information such as state agency involvement (e.g., age at first contact with juvenile legal system, number of prior arrests), immigration status.	Baseline
Treatment Acceptability Form	This form will be used to assess the acceptability of the adapted CBITS-RTM intervention. Items are scored from 1 "Strongly disagree" to 5 "Strongly agree." Scores range from 10-50 with higher scores indicating higher acceptability.	3-months post-baseline
CBITS-RTM Group Evaluation Posttest	This will assess knowledge of trauma, changes in ability to cope with stress, and acceptability of the intervention and its delivery. Items are true/false or qualitative in nature.	3-months post-baseline
Clinician personal and background characteristics	Questionnaire used to gather personal and professional background characteristics (e.g., clinical discipline, experience with trauma treatment, years of practice in juvenile detention setting) and assess attitudes toward evidence-based practice.	Baseline
Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools-Fidelity Adherence Measure 2.0	This measure will be used to assess how closely clinicians adhere to the adapted CBITS-RTM intervention. The measure describes in detail the core components expected to be covered in each session and the rater indicates the degree to which the content was delivered with fidelity with a score between 0-3.	20% of the sessions

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of California, San Francisco
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Johanna Folk, PhD, University of California, San Francisco

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): September 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 26, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 26, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): July 2, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 2, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 26, 2026
• Last Verified: June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Incarcerated youth; Juvenile detention school; CBITS-RTM
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders; Mental Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Stress Disorders, Traumatic; Substance-Related Disorders; Combat Disorders; Non-Medical Public and Private Facilities; Schools
• Other Study ID Numbers: 25-45799

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

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