Targeting Burdensomeness Among Clinic Referred Youth

Suicidal ideation is prevalent and impairing in youth, with approximately 15% of high school students reporting seriously considering a suicide attempt and making a specific plan for suicide in the past 12 months. Substantial evidence documents perceived burdensomeness towards others, or the belief that one is a burden or drain on others, as a risk factor for suicide ideation in youth. This evidence highlights the potential promise of perceived burdensomeness as a novel intervention target to prevent suicide ideation in youth. The current study will develop and preliminary evaluate a novel, brief behavioral treatment module targeting perceived burdensomeness in youth that can be embedded within existing psychosocial treatments. The study will use an open trial design. The first aim of this proposal is to develop a novel, brief psychosocial intervention module (the GIVE module) targeting perceived burdensomeness towards others that can be embedded within existing CBT protocols for youth internalizing problems. The second aim is to collect data relevant to client satisfaction and reductions in perceived burdensomeness. Participants will be N=30 clinic-referred youth ages 10 to 17 years with anxiety or depressive disorders in a university-based research clinic, who display elevated levels of perceived burdensomeness. In the context on ongoing CBT for anxiety or depression, participants will complete the GIVE module at sessions 6 and 7 of the CBT protocol. It is hypothesized that perceived burdensomeness will be significantly lower after the GIVE module is administered, and that client satisfaction will be high. Data collected in this study will provide the foundation for a subsequent randomized controlled trial of the GIVE module.