Grant: Partnerships for Health System Improvement (PHSI)

The profound level of mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicidality among street-involved youth has been well-documented in previous studies.The rate of suicide for street youth is at least 10.3 times the national average among Canadian youth. Yet, despite the extreme level of mental health need among homeless youth, literature which describes and evaluates interventions to address the mental health problems of street youth is virtually non-existent. Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is an empirically supported intervention designed to treat a range of serious mental health problems. DBT is well suited to street-involved youth who experience a range of mental health challenges, including; self-harm behaviors, depression, anxiety, and suicidality. This study aims to contribute to the development of an evidence-based, transferable intervention that can be widely used to improve the mental health and overall functioning for street-involved youth. The proposed study will evaluate the effectiveness of a 16 week DBT intervention to reduce emotional distress, enhance emotion-based coping skills, increase interpersonal effectiveness and strengthen resilience amongst street-involved youth, participating in transitional housing programmes, across 3 national sites (Calgary, Toronto & Halifax). Methods for the study will include the recruitment of 100 youth across the 3 study sites to participate in the intervention and the evaluation phase. Evaluation will be comprised of a mixed method approach; specifically a quasi-experimental design to assess the effectiveness of the intervention, as well as a subsample of qualitative interviews to further address effectiveness.If shown to be effective this evidence-based intervention can be readily taught to staff working at a range of service agencies across Canada thereby building resources in the field for positive youth outcomes.