NCT02060448

Treatment Study for Non-Suicidal Self-Injury

Exploring Two Emotion-Focused Treatment Modules in Non-Suicidal Self-Injury

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 13 (actual)
• Sponsor: Boston University Charles River Campus · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The overall aim of this study is to begin establishing an effective treatment for individuals who engage in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), as there are currently no evidence-based treatments that directly target this problematic behavior. Existing treatments that have demonstrated initial promise in reducing NSSI consist of many skills embedded in complex programs; therefore, the skill(s) responsible for improvements in NSSI are not clear. Procedures that focus on one's emotions, particularly that aim to increase emotional awareness and engagement in cognitive reappraisal (i.e., a way of thinking that lessens emotions), may be critical in effective NSSI treatment. The specific goals of this study are to investigate the effects of two specific emotion-focused treatment elements on NSSI. Participants will be ten individuals who meet the proposed Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association) criteria for NSSI disorder and engage in NSSI to reduce or escape from negative emotions. Two core modules of the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders (UP; Barlow et al., 2011) will be adapted and delivered with the aim of reducing participants' non-suicidal self-injurious thoughts and behaviors. Each treatment module will consist of four 50-minute individual weekly sessions of emotion awareness training or cognitive reappraisal. The study will use a single-case experimental design, and phase change will be determined based on each participant's changes in non-suicidal self-injurious thoughts and behaviors.

Conditions

• Self Injurious Behavior Without Suicidal Intent

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Emotion awareness training	Four weekly individual treatment sessions focused on increasing awareness of one's emotions.
BEHAVIORAL	Cognitive reappraisal	Four weekly individual treatment sessions focused on thinking about stimuli in a way that diminishes one's emotions.

Timeline

• Start date: 2013-11-01
• Primary completion: 2015-12-01
• Completion: 2015-12-01
• First posted: 2014-02-12
• Last updated: 2017-03-21

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States