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ViewAttendees 2

Symposia

Child / Adolescent - Depression

School-Based Opportunities for Adolescent Recovery (SOARing): A School-Based, DBT-Skills Targeted Intervention for Adolescents

2 - (SYM 43) Soaring: The Acceptability and Feasibility of a DBT Skills Training Program for At-risk Adolescents

Friday, November 15, 2024
12:30 PM – 2:00 PM EST
Location: Regency Ballroom C2, Second Floor Mezzanine, Loews Hotel
Abstract Body

Background: The purpose of this investigation is to describe the rationale for, and development of, a school-based DBT skills program for students attending a continuation high school in an underserved area, known as School-Based Opportunities for Adolescent Recovery (SOARing). Although it is not the first project to implement school-based DBT, SOARing is among the first to devise a 12-session, group intervention protocol through formative testing and evaluate its preliminary potential.
 

Method: Five culturally diverse adolescents (M = 17.20, SD = 0.45) participated in this SOARing pre-pilot, in which they offered feedback on DBT skill activities selected from a 30-lesson, DBT skills curriculum (DBT STEPS-A). While the DBT STEPS-A manual is geared toward a universal population of adolescents, participants in this Tier 2 intervention were pre-screened as at-risk, as supported by the RCADS depression and anxiety scale. Field note data and satisfaction evaluations were collected to evaluate the program’s feasibility and acceptability.

Results: Results from these field notes and student satisfaction questionnaires indicate that the intervention was positively received, with constructive feedback from the students successfully incorporated as modifications to the program. Activities from the DBT STEPS-A manual that were positively received were added to SOARing’s condensed 12-session manual.

Conclusion: These findings have since informed the protocol refinement of a larger randomized proof-of-concept trial that will test the effectiveness of SOARing in improving psychological outcomes.