Piloting a Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) Infused Skills Group in a Disciplinary Alternative Education Program (DAEP)

Efficacy of Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents in a Partial Hospitalization Program

“…When we inspected the adjusted significance tests for univariate analyses by dependent variable, it was apparent that DBT‐A was a more effective intervention for treating the symptoms of depression and interpersonal sensitivity when compared with a TAU milieu. This finding is consistent with previous investigations of DBT with adolescent populations in other treatment settings (Beckstead et al, ; Ricard et al, ; Wasser et al, ), thus corroborating suppositions related to the transferability of the modality and treatment effect. Inspection of effect size magnitudes and related CIs for scores on the SCL‐90‐R Depression and Interpersonal Sensitivity subscales indicated medium and large treatment effects, respectively.…”

“…The results of between‐groups studies contrasting DBT‐A to other interventions have also corroborated a statistically significant degree of efficacy across symptoms of depression and anxiety (Ricard, Lerma, & Heard, ; Wasser, Tyler, McIlhaney, Taplin, & Henderson, ), suicidal ideation and self‐harm (McDonell et al, ; Mehlum et al, ), and behavioral problems (Trupin, Stewart, Beach, & Boesky, ). However, systematic reviews of this category of studies revealed several concerns about the considerable heterogeneity across study and sample characteristics that warrants skepticism about the degree to which these studies’ findings can be generalized across client populations (Hollenbaugh & Lenz, in press; McPherson, Cheavens, & Fristad, ).…”

Preliminary Evidence for the Effectiveness of Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents

“…Our findings also suggest that DBT‐A may be more effective than no treatment in decreasing depression. However, the results of this separate analysis were weighted almost solely on the Ricard et al () study, and as such, we can interpret little from these findings.…”

“…Preliminary research on DBT-A is promising, and studies have shown statistically significant results for reducing anxiety (Ritschel, Lim, & Stewart, 2015), depression (Nelson-Gray et al, 2006;Perepletchikova et al, 2011;Rathus & Miller, 2002), self-injury (James, Taylor, Winmill, & Alfoadari, 2008;James, Winmill, Anderson, & Alfoadari, 2011;Woodberry & Popenoe, 2008), and suicide risk (Fleischhaker et al, 2011;Rathus & Miller, 2002;Woodberry & Popenoe, 2008). Researchers have also adapted DBT-A further to address specific diagnoses, including eating disorders, substance dependence, and oppositional defiant disorder (Bhatnagar & Wisniewski, 2015;Bukstein & Horner, 2010;Marco, García-Palacios, & Botella, 2013), as well as a variety of settings, including juvenile detention centers, partial hospitalization programs, and schools (Del Conte, Lenz, & Hollenbaugh, 2016;Ricard, Lerma, & Heard, 2013;Shelton, Kesten, Zhang, & Trestman, 2011).…”

Addressing trauma in schools: Multitiered service delivery options for practitioners

“…DBT is an evidence-based intervention that has demonstrated success in addressing borderline personality disorder and has been used with adolescents who have experienced trauma (Panos, Jackson, Hasan, & Panos, 2014;Geddes, Dziurawiec, & Lee, 2013). DBT skills groups have been used in schools successfully in middle-school samples to reduce health-risk behaviors (Zapolski & Smith, 2017) and behavior concerns (Ricard, Lerma, & Heard, 2013). There is also a published manual to guide the use of DBT skills groups in schools (Mazza, Dexter-Mazza, Miller, Rathus, & Murphy, 2016).…”