iKinnect2.0 for Juvenile Justice Involved Youth at Risk for Suicide

The goal of this 33-month Fast Track study is to significantly expand iKinnect, an efficacious paired mobile app that supports parents (in delivering) and youth (in receiving) evidence-based techniques to reduce youth problem behaviors such as delinquency and drug use. iKinnect2.0 will be expanded to also prevent non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), suicidal behaviors, and death by suicide in juvenile justice (JJ) involved youth while continuing to prevent criminal recidivism. iKinnect was originally designed based on Multisystemic Therapy (MST) principles to help youth with serious conduct problems. Results from a randomized controlled trial (RCT; N=72) demonstrated its efficacy in reducing externalizing behaviors and improving parent effectiveness. This project seeks to significantly expand iKinnect to prevent NSSI, suicidal behaviors (ideation, planning, attempts), and death by suicide in JJ-involved transition age (TA) youth while continuing to decrease externalizing behaviors and prevent recidivism. Usability and acceptability testing will be conducted to test new features with target end-users (youth and their parents/guardians) and key stakeholders (probation officers, parole/re-entry officers, administrators, people with lived experience). Once usability and acceptability is achieved, an eight-week pilot will be conducted to test study procedures followed by a 16-week randomized controlled trial comparing iKinnect2.0 to an active control mobile app. Investigators expect that iKinnect2.0 participants will report a significantly greater decrease in youths' suicidal, NSSI, and conduct-problem behaviors, and less recidivism. Furthermore, iKinnect2.0 participants will report significantly greater use of behavioral skills and suicide prevention strategies (TA youth and parents), and greater self-efficacy in coping with emotional distress (TA youth). iKinnect2.0 parents will report greater awareness of and confidence in applying evidence-based strategies to prevent suicide/NSSI and to support their TA youth through a suicide crisis. Investigators hypothesize that in comparison to the active control condition, iKinnect participants will show significantly better outcomes from baseline to the 4, 8, and 16-week assessment points such that: 1. iKinnect parents will report greater increases in parenting and suicide prevention efficacy. 2. iKinnect youth will report greater decreases in suicidal, NSSI, and delinquent/criminal behaviors. 3. iKinnect youth will report greater increases in coping with imminent distress and use of suicide prevention coping strategies. 4. iKinnect parents and youth will report greater increases in clarity of expectations, parental monitoring, discipline effectiveness, parent consistency, use of rewards, and positive parent-youth relations. 5. iKinnect parents will report greater decreases in youth problem behaviors.