Alcohol use is considered to be a significant risk factor among those who die by suicide, especially among those who drink to regulate their emotions. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of treatment outcome research for suicidal heavy drinkers. Further, treatments that target this population must be maximally effective and widely disseminable. The application of technology has been increasingly utilized as an efficacious and acceptable way to rapidly disseminate evidence-base treatment. However, these methods are used infrequently for individuals deemed too high risk for computerized treatment. Along these lines, the goal of this project is to begin a line of research focused on developing interventions o reduce heavy drinking and risk for suicide through the use of technology. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills training is an effective intervention for behaviors associated with emotion dysregulation including addictive and suicidal behaviors. Further, DBT skills use has been identified as the active ingredient for treatment effectiveness; thus, a skills training interventin delivered via the Internet has the capacity to be a potent and efficient method of treatment delivery. The goal of this research is to establish a proof of concept for developing and evaluating a potentially efficacious and acceptable intervention for heavy episodic drinkers who are suicidal. Specifically, this project proposes to conduct a randomized controlled pilot trial ofa computerized DBT skills training intervention for suicidal individuals who engage in heavy episodic drinking (HED) to regulate emotions.
Heavy alcohol use and suicidal ideation are significant health problems in the United States. Unfortunately, no treatment has been developed with the explicit goals of reducing drinking and suicidality. Further, treatment development should have the goal of being maximally potent and widely disseminable. Thus, the aim of this project is to conduct a randomized controlled pilot trial of a computerized Dialectical Behavior Therapy (cDBT) skills training intervention for suicidal individuals who engage in heavy episodic drinking (HED).
| Wilks, Chelsey R; Lungu, Anita; Ang, Sin Yee et al. (2018) A randomized controlled trial of an Internet delivered dialectical behavior therapy skills training for suicidal and heavy episodic drinkers. J Affect Disord 232:219-228 |
| Wilks, Chelsey; Yin, Qingqing; Ang, Sin Yee et al. (2017) Internet-Delivered Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Skills Training for Suicidal and Heavy Episodic Drinkers: Protocol and Preliminary Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc 6:e207 |
