Navigating Mental Health Treatment for Black Youth

Recent research has shown significant increases in suicides among Black youth and suicide attempts among Black high school students. Standard mental health treatment referrals were found to be not as effective among Black youth. This study in collaboration between Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania looks to determine if adapting standard Suicidal Teens Accessing Treatment (STAT-ED) to address barriers to initiating treatment for Black youth and their caregivers will increase mental health treatment initiation and number of treatment visits. The primary objective is to conduct a systematic adaptation of STAT-ED for Black youth presenting in the emergency department who have suicidal risk. As well as to examine preliminary efficacy of the intervention on primary (mental health treatment initiation and number of visits) and secondary (suicidal ideation) outcomes using a prospective randomized controlled trial design. The secondary objective is to examine implementation outcomes of adapted STAT-ED for Black youth and caregivers compared to enhanced treatment as usual. Participants will be recruited from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia emergency department and randomized to receive either adapted STAT-ED or enhanced treatment as usual following discharge from their emergency visit. 50 eligible youth and 50 eligible caregivers (50 youth-caregiver dyads) will be consented, enrolled, and randomized to produce 85 evaluable subjects. Treatment assignment will be done at the time of enrollment. Those chosen for the adapted STAT-ED will be assigned a patient navigator to provide culturally informed motivational interviews, assistance with appointments, barrier deduction discussions, and mental health information. The cultural adaptation will directly incorporate patients' preferences for treatment, such as treatment modalities, and address negative perceptions about treatment and stigma. Descriptive statistics for demographics, motivation, suicidal ideation and affect will be measured at baseline. We will then assess use of treatment and services, motivation for treatment, suicidal ideation, and intervention acceptability at 2 months post-enrollment. At 6 months post-enrollment, the same measures as the 2 month follow-up will be assessed once more. The assessment scores will then be compared between the experimental and control treatment groups. The results of this application would be expected to contribute important new knowledge on barriers faced by Black youth and their caregivers while initiating mental health treatment and examine if a culturally informed intervention will increase mental health treatment initiation.