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Adaptation of Group-Based Suicide Intervention for Latinx Youth in a Community Mental Health Center

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to better understand the sociocultural and logistical treatment needs and barriers of low-income Latinx suicidal youth; and to solicit feedback and identify best practices to adapt and implement a suicide treatment program for this population in a community mental health clinic. Working with the largest mental health care provider for urban area under- and uninsured patients, we conducted semi-structured interviews with Latinx suicidal youth (n = 6), their parents (n = 6), and clinical staff (n = 8). Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed thematically using a deductively-driven codebook corresponding to interview domains. We supplemented semi-structured interview findings with knowledge gleaned from an exhaustive literature search, including best practice findings from other studies. We also conducted a brief provider survey to ensure a diverse sample. Many parents and providers focused on several unmet mental health needs and multiple barriers to accessing treatment that are common among uninsured populations: a need to prioritize parent and adolescent work schedules, lack of transportation, unstable housing, and unmet childcare needs. Additionally, participants described several factors that play a critical role in treatment: stigma, religion, fear related to immigration, gender roles, and acculturation. We mapped these findings, along with literature-identified best practices, to create components of a culturally-tailored adaptation. We combined primary and secondary evidence of Latinx suicidal youth and families’ mental health needs and barriers to treatment to propose a tailored adaption of an intensive outpatient program that provides transdiagnostic, suicide-specific care to Latinx adolescents and families in a community setting.

Highlights

  • Rates of suicidal behavior in Latinx youth are high.

  • Access to culturally tailored treatment programs are limited for Latinx youth.

  • Cultural adaptations are feasible, acceptable, and enhance care in this population.

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Acknowledgements

This project was funded by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Community-Based Pilot Research Grants. We are grateful for the teens, families, and clinicians who provided invaluable feedback that contributed to the adaptation and development of the program. We especially would like to acknowledge Rochelle Schutte, MA, Carol North, MD, and John Burruss, MD, who partnered with us to adapt this program for a community mental health setting. In addition, we are grateful to Dr Simon Lee who provided guidance on the qualitative methods used in this study. We would also like to acknowledge the support and partnership of the Hannah4Hope foundation, an organization that continues to inspire us through their meaningful contributions to our community.

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

BDK: designed and executed the study, led data analyses, and wrote the paper. AM: collaborated with the design and writing of the manuscript. SS: collaborated with the design of the study, analyzed the data, and writing of the manuscript. AEB and HM: collaborated with the design and writing of the results. KG, RW, MMM: collaborated in the writing and editing of the final manuscript. RTH: collaborated with the design of the study, assisted with data analyses and writing of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Beth Kennard.

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Conflict of Interest

BDK receives research support from the National Institute of Mental Health and royalties from Guilford Press, and she serves on the Board of Trustees of the Jerry M. Lewis, M.D. Research Foundation. The other authors report no conflict of interests or financial disclosures.

Ethics Statement

This project received IRB approval from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all participants for being included in the study. Additional informed consent was obtained from all individuals for whom identifying information is included in this article.

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Kennard, B., Moorehead, A., Stewart, S. et al. Adaptation of Group-Based Suicide Intervention for Latinx Youth in a Community Mental Health Center. J Child Fam Stud 29, 2058–2069 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01718-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01718-0

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