Effectiveness of PTSD Treatment For Suicidal and Multi-Diagnostic Clients

Although several evidence-based treatments (EBTs) for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been found to be effective in research and community settings, individuals with PTSD who are acutely suicidal, self-injuring, and/or have severe comorbid disorders are typically excluded from these treatments. The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Prolonged Exposure (DBT PE) protocol has been shown to be effective in treating PTSD among suicidal, self-injuring, and multi-diagnostic individuals receiving Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) in research settings. The present project has two primary aims: (1) to examine the effectiveness of a multi-component implementation strategy in improving adoption and adherence to the DBT PE protocol, and (2) to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of the DBT PE protocol in a sample of individuals receiving DBT in public mental health agencies. The project will be conducted in collaboration with Philadelphia's Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS). This study uses a hybrid type 2 effectiveness-implementation design to simultaneously test the clinical effectiveness of DBT + DBT PE and to evaluate an adaptive, multi-component implementation strategy. The effectiveness trial will use a quasi-experimental, controlled design to evaluate outcomes among DBT clients with PTSD who do versus do not receive the DBT PE protocol and outcomes will be benchmarked to those obtained in research settings. Clinical effectiveness outcomes include measures of PTSD, suicidality, global symptom severity, and quality of life and will be assessed at four timepoints (baseline, 4, 8, and 12 months) using blinded independent evaluators. The initial implementation strategy will include an implementation team, online training, distribution of a treatment manual, in-person workshop, team-based clinical consultation, and audit and feedback on session content. The implementation strategy will be adapted as needed during the project using Plan-Do-Study-Act quality improvement methods. Implementation outcomes include feasibility, acceptability, adoption, fidelity, penetration, and sustainability of the DBT PE protocol and will be assessed via clinician surveys at 8 timepoints over 2 years (baseline, pre-training, post-training, 4, 8, and 12-months after initial training during active implementation, and 6 and 12 months follow-up after implementation is complete). Both effectiveness and implementation outcomes are being assessed using mixed methods, including quantitative evaluation (e.g., intent-to-treat analyses across multiple time points) and qualitative evaluation (e.g., surveys and interviews with clients, clinicians, and agency administrators). Four public mental health agencies with existing DBT programs will be recruited for participation. It is estimated that this will yield a sample of 25 clinicians who will enroll a maximum of 3 clients each in the effectiveness trial (n=75 clients total). The project will also engage an advisory board of stakeholders in the DBHIDS system.