Suicidal Risk in Adults in Panama: Validation of a Clinical Intervention Protocol

July 16, 2026 updated by: Vali Ruth Maduro Fernandez, Fundación Judío Panameña (JUPA)
This study aims to validate MBT as an effective and viable intervention for implementation in public health services, with the potential to directly impact suicide prevention policies in the region.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Suicide is a critical public health problem that requires effective, evidence-based interventions. The investigators propose a pragmatic, multicenter, longitudinal, non-randomized clinical trial to compare the effectiveness of Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT) versus Treatment Usual (TAU) in reducing suicidality in adults. Three hundred participants (18-60 years old) with suicidal ideation or active suicidal behavior will be recruited and assigned to one of three groups: (a) MBT in a private setting, (b) MBT in a public setting, or (c) TAU in a public setting. All participants will receive 12 psychotherapy sessions, one per week.

The primary outcome variable will be suicidality. Secondary outcome variables include depressive (PHQ-9) and anxious (GAD-7) symptoms, reflective function (RFQ), protective factors (RFL), and impulsivity (UPPS-P). Measurements will be taken at baseline (T0), session 6 (T1), final session (T2), and at 3 months of follow-up (T3). Psychotherapy process variables will also be assessed in all sessions: therapeutic alliance (SAI), psychological distress (CORE-10), affective regulation (DERS-8), and sense of belonging and burden (INQ).

The analysis, guided by the intention-to-treat principle, will employ Bayesian regression models to evaluate the superiority of MBT over TAU and the non-inferiority of public MBT compared to private MBT. Trajectories of change will be explored using Hidden Markov Models to model the process variables.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

300

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Panama
    • Provincia de Panamá
      • Panama City, Provincia de Panamá, Panama
        • Consultorio Inter Cambio
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Vali R Maduro Fernandez, Ph.D.
      • Panama City, Provincia de Panamá, Panama
        • Panama City Health Ministry Clinics
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Roberto Gonzalez De La Lastra, M.D.

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age and consent
  • Presence of suicidal ideation or active behavior in the last month, assessed using the C-SSRS (e.g., intentional ideation, plan, or preparatory behavior)
  • Depressive or anxious symptoms (Score ≥ 10 on the PHQ-9, indicating at least moderate depressive symptoms, or Score ≥ 10 on the GAD-7, suggesting clinically significant anxiety.)
  • Availability and commitment to participate in the full assessment using all the aforementioned scales.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Clinical Safety (exclude and refer immediately)
  • Imminent suicide risk according to the C-SSRS (e.g., attempt within the last 7 days, current intentional plan, access to lethal means, and low ambivalence).
  • PHQ-9 item 9 = 3 ("almost every day") with clinical corroboration of imminent risk.
  • Current self-harm with lethality/high-harm moderator requiring acute restraint.
  • Refusal to establish a safety plan or allow emergency contact.
  • Acute Psychiatric Conditions/Contraindications of Assessment
  • Active psychosis or unstabilized manic episode.
  • Substance use disorder in intoxication or acute withdrawal (e.g., last 24-72 hours) that precludes valid assessment.
  • Uncontrolled risk of severe other-directed violence.
  • Medical or neurological conditions that preclude valid participation
  • Severe cognitive impairment (e.g., dementia, recent moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury) that prevents understanding/answering scales.
  • Decompensated medical illness (e.g., desaturation, delirium, severe uncontrolled pain).
  • Unstable neurological condition (e.g., uncontrolled seizures).
  • Methodological interferences
  • Recent changes in baseline psychotropic medications within the last 2 weeks.
  • Concurrent intensive psychotherapy initiated within the last 4 weeks.
  • Simultaneous participation in another trial that could contaminate results.
  • Language other than that of the scales without available validation.
  • Logistical impossibility for follow-up (no telephone/stable contact; imminent relocation plan).
  • Legal aspects/consent
  • Incapacity to consent (legal or clinical) and no available representative.
  • Legal restrictions that prevent participation.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: MBT_Private
100 eligible applicants selected from a pool of responders to an open call who will be administered the MBT intervention by private practice mental health proffesionals.
Behavioral: Mentalization-Based Therapy (MBT)
This is evidence-based psychotherapy that helps people improve their ability to mentalize: understanding their own and others' mental states, including thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and intentions, and connecting them to behavior. MBT aims to improve self-reflection, emotional regulation, and the establishment of more stable and satisfying relationships, especially in people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) or complex trauma. The treatment consists of individual therapy and prioritizes an inquisitive, rather than interpretive, stance on the part of the therapist to encourage the patient to develop their own understanding. In the proposed study, a 12-session MBT protocol of 45-minute individual psychotherapy sessions will be used, with an intervention frequency of one session per week.
Other Names:
  • MBT
Experimental: MBT_Public
100 eligible applicants selected from a pool of responders to an open call who will be administered the MBT intervention by public mental health proffesionals.
Behavioral: Mentalization-Based Therapy (MBT)
This is evidence-based psychotherapy that helps people improve their ability to mentalize: understanding their own and others' mental states, including thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and intentions, and connecting them to behavior. MBT aims to improve self-reflection, emotional regulation, and the establishment of more stable and satisfying relationships, especially in people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) or complex trauma. The treatment consists of individual therapy and prioritizes an inquisitive, rather than interpretive, stance on the part of the therapist to encourage the patient to develop their own understanding. In the proposed study, a 12-session MBT protocol of 45-minute individual psychotherapy sessions will be used, with an intervention frequency of one session per week.
Other Names:
  • MBT
Active Comparator: TAU
100 eligible applicants selected from a pool of responders to an open call who will be administered treatment as usual (TAU) by public mental health proffesionals.
Behavioral: Treatment as Usual (TAU)
Patients referred to participating Health Centers will receive Usual Treatment. We will adjust this treatment to match the dosage and frequency of administration to that of MBT. The treatment will consist of 12 weekly sessions of 50 minutes each.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Suicidality
Time Frame: Time Frame: We will administer outcome measures on day one (baseline), at week 6 (midpoint), at week 12 (end of treatment), and in a follow-up interview three months after the end of treatment.
Suicidality will be measured using the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS). The C-SSRS is a standardized and validated semi-structured clinical interview designed to accurately assess the presence, severity, and frequency of suicidal ideation and behavior. It evaluates four constructs: the severity of suicidal ideation, the intensity of suicidal ideation, the occurrence of suicidal behavior, and the lethality of suicidal behavior.
Time Frame: We will administer outcome measures on day one (baseline), at week 6 (midpoint), at week 12 (end of treatment), and in a follow-up interview three months after the end of treatment.
Depressive symptomatology
Time Frame: Time Frame: We will administer outcome measures on day one (baseline), at week 6 (midpoint), at week 12 (end of treatment), and in a follow-up interview three months after the end of treatment.
Depressive symptomatology will be assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9, Kroenke, Spitzer & Williams, 2001). The PHQ-9 is a nine-item self-report questionnaire that assesses the presence and severity of depressive symptoms over the past two weeks, based on DSM diagnostic criteria. For each item, the person indicates how frequently they experience the indicated condition using a four-point Likert scale (0 = "Not at all" to 3 = "Almost every day"). The total score (range: 0-27) categorizes severity as: minimal (0-4), mild (5-9), moderate (10-14), moderately severe (15-19), and severe (20-27).
Time Frame: We will administer outcome measures on day one (baseline), at week 6 (midpoint), at week 12 (end of treatment), and in a follow-up interview three months after the end of treatment.
Anxiety symptoms
Time Frame: Time Frame: We will administer outcome measures on day one (baseline), at week 6 (midpoint), at week 12 (end of treatment), and in a follow-up interview three months after the end of treatment.
The Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7; Spitzer, Kroenke, Williams & Löwe, 2006) will be used. The GAD-7 is a seven-item self-report questionnaire designed to assess the severity of generalized anxiety symptoms. For each item, the person must indicate how frequently they experience the indicated condition using a four-point Likert scale (0 = "Not at all" to 3 = "Almost every day"). The total score (range: 0-21) categorizes the intensity of symptoms as minimal anxiety (0-4), mild (5-9), moderate (10-14), and severe (15-21).
Time Frame: We will administer outcome measures on day one (baseline), at week 6 (midpoint), at week 12 (end of treatment), and in a follow-up interview three months after the end of treatment.
Reflective function
Time Frame: Time Frame: We will administer outcome measures on day one (baseline), at week 6 (midpoint), at week 12 (end of treatment), and in a follow-up interview three months after the end of treatment.
We will assess reflective function using the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ; Fonagy et al., 2016). We will use the eight-item abbreviated version (RFQ-8), which assesses an individual's ability to understand their own and others' behavior in terms of underlying mental states. Each item is rated by the participant on a seven-point Likert scale (1 = "Strongly disagree" to 7 = "Strongly agree"). The result includes two subscales that measure the degree of uncertainty (RFQ_U) and the degree of certainty (RFQ_C) about mental states. It also yields an overall score, where high values indicate uncertainty about mental states (hypomentalization) and low values indicate genuine mentalization.
Time Frame: We will administer outcome measures on day one (baseline), at week 6 (midpoint), at week 12 (end of treatment), and in a follow-up interview three months after the end of treatment.
Protective factors against suicide
Time Frame: Time Frame: We will administer outcome measures on day one (baseline), at week 6 (midpoint), at week 12 (end of treatment), and in a follow-up interview three months after the end of treatment.
We will assess factors that counteract suicidal vulnerability using the Reasons for Living Inventory (RFLI; Linehan et al., 1983). The RFLI is a self-report questionnaire consisting of 48 items that assess the importance of various reasons a person may have for choosing to remain alive. The items are organized into six subscales, including beliefs about coping; Concerns related to family responsibilities; concerns related to children; fear of suicide; fear of social disapproval and moral objections.
Time Frame: We will administer outcome measures on day one (baseline), at week 6 (midpoint), at week 12 (end of treatment), and in a follow-up interview three months after the end of treatment.
Impulsive behavior
Time Frame: Time Frame: We will administer outcome measures on day one (baseline), at week 6 (midpoint), at week 12 (end of treatment), and in a follow-up interview three months after the end of treatment.
We will assess impulsive behavior using the Urgency, Premeditation, Perseverance, Sensation Seeking, and Positive Urgency Brief Impulsivity Scale (UPPS-P; (Cándido Ortiz et al., 2012)). The UPPS-P is a self-report scale that assesses impulsivity as a multidimensional construct, including five dimensions: positive urgency, negative urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, and sensation seeking. The scale contains 20 items answered on a four-point Likert scale.
Time Frame: We will administer outcome measures on day one (baseline), at week 6 (midpoint), at week 12 (end of treatment), and in a follow-up interview three months after the end of treatment.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Fundación Judío Panameña (JUPA)

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

November 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 12, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 16, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 21, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 21, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 16, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • JUPA-2026
  • U1111-1342-5972 (Other Identifier: World Health Organization (WHO))

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

For confidentiality

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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