Completed

Youth Support Team Intervention for Suicidal Adolescents

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What is being tested

Youth-Nominated Support Team

Behavioral
Who is being recruted

Behavioral Symptoms
+1

+ Suicide
+ Suicide, Attempted
From 13 to 17 Years
See all eligibility criteria
How is the trial designed

Treatment Study

Phase 2
Interventional
Study Start: November 2002
See protocol details

Summary

Principal SponsorUniversity of Michigan
Last updated: January 14, 2026
Sourced from a government-validated database.Claim as a partner
Study start date: November 1, 2002Actual date on which the first participant was enrolled.

Despite substantial knowledge about adolescent suicide risk factors, few studies have been conducted to identify effective interventions for suicidal adolescents. Youth-Nominated Support Team (YST) is an intervention designed to help suicidal adolescents after hospitalization. It is a psychoeducational social network intervention that targets poor treatment adherence and difficulties with social support. YST is designed to be a supplement to traditional or usual treatments. Participants are randomly assigned to receive either treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU plus YST for 3 months. Adolescents who receive TAU plus YST nominate three or four adults from their family, school, and community settings to function as support persons. The support persons participate in a psychoeducation session that focuses on the adolescent's psychiatric disorder(s), individualized treatment plan, importance of treatment adherence, and suicide risk factors. They also maintain regular contact with the adolescent to support treatment adherence and progress toward treatment goals. Adolescents have assessments at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. Internalizing behavior problems, perceived social support, treatment adherence, adaptive functioning, severity of depression and anxiety, severity and frequency of suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts are assessed.

Official TitleYouth Support Team Intervention for Suicidal Adolescents 
NCT00071617
Principal SponsorUniversity of Michigan
Last updated: January 14, 2026
Sourced from a government-validated database.Claim as a partner

Protocol

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.
Design Details
448 patients to be enrolledTotal number of participants that the clinical trial aims to recruit.
Treatment Study
These studies test new ways to treat a disease, condition, or health issue. The goal is to see if a new drug, therapy, or approach works better or has fewer side effects than existing options.

How participants are assigned to different groups/arms
In this clinical study, participants are placed into groups randomly, like flipping a coin. This ensures that the study is fair and unbiased, making the results more reliable. By assigning participants by chance, researchers can better compare treatments without external influences.

Other Ways to Assign Participants
Non-randomized allocation: Participants are assigned based on specific factors, such as their medical condition or a doctor's decision.
None (Single-arm trial): If the study has only one group, all participants receive the same treatment, and no allocation is needed.

How treatments are given to participants
Participants are divided into different groups, each receiving a specific treatment at the same time. This helps researchers compare how well different treatments work against each other.

Other Ways to Assign Treatments
Single-group assignment: Everyone gets the same treatment.
Cross-over assignment: Participants switch between treatments during the study.
Factorial assignment: Participants receive different combinations of treatments.
Sequential assignment: Participants receive treatments one after another in a specific order, possibly based on individual responses.
Other assignment: Treatment assignment does not follow a standard or predefined design.

How the effectiveness of the treatment is controlled
In a non placebo-controlled study, no participants receive an inert substance (placebo) to compare outcomes. Instead, all participants receive either the experimental treatment or an alternative treatment (often the Standard of Care). This method allows researchers to compare the effects of the experimental treatment with those of a different active intervention, rather than a placebo.

Other Options
Placebo-Controlled: A placebo is used to compare the effects of the experimental treatment with those of an inert substance, isolating the true treatment effect.

How the interventions assigned to participants is kept confidential
Everyone involved in the study knows which treatment is being given. This is typically used when it's not possible or necessary to hide the treatment details from participants or researchers.

Other Ways to Mask Information
Single-blind: Participants do not know which treatment they are receiving, but researchers do.
Double-blind: Neither participants nor researchers know which treatment is given.
Triple-blind: Participants, researchers, and outcome assessors do not know which treatment is given.
Quadruple-blind: Participants, researchers, outcome assessors, and care providers all do not know which treatment is given.

Eligibility

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria: person's general health condition or prior treatments.
Conditions
Criteria
Any sexBiological sex of participants that are eligible to enroll.
From 13 to 17 YearsRange of ages for which participants are eligible to join.
Healthy volunteers not allowedIf individuals who are healthy and do not have the condition being studied can participate.
Conditions
Pathology
Behavioral Symptoms
Suicide
Suicide, Attempted
Self-Injurious Behavior
Criteria

Inclusion Criteria: * Hospitalization in a participating psychiatric facility * Suicidal ideation, intent, or attempt Exclusion Criteria: * Severe physical or cognitive impairment that makes informed consent, nominations, or participation in assessments impossible

Study Plan

Find out more about all the medication administered in this study, their detailed description and what they involve.
Treatment Groups
Study Objectives
One single intervention group 

is designated in this study

This study does not include a placebo group 

Treatment Groups
Group I
Experimental
Adolescents nominate up to 4 caring adults from family, school, community settings. These adults participate in psychoeducation sessions regarding adolescent's treatment plan and support needs. They maintain regular, supportive contact with the adolescent for 3 months -- with ongoing consultation and support check-ins from study clinical staff.

Study Objectives
Primary Objectives

Type, frequency, and severity of suicidal thoughts
Secondary Objectives

Study Centers

These are the hospitals, clinics, or research facilities where the trial is being conducted. You can find the location closest to you and its status.
This study has 1 location
Suspended
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Hospital, University of MichiganAnn Arbor, United StatesSee the location
CompletedOne Study Center