title: Pilot Study.
abstract: A significant proportion of youth engage in health risk behaviors, which are of concern, as they are associated with adverse health consequences across development. Two factors associated with engagement in such behaviors are emotion dysregulation and impulsivity. Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) is an effective intervention that enhances emotion regulation skills to reduce problem behaviors among adolescent populations; however, limited research has been conducted implementing the program within school settings. The current study was a 9-week DBT skills group conducted among 80 middle school youth, with pre-posttest data among 53 students. Findings indicated feasibility to implement the program in schools and preliminary evidence of efficacy in decreasing youth's likelihood to engage in risky, particularly among youth high on an emotion-based impulsivity trait. Brief DBT skills group may be an effective program to be utilized by school nurses and health-care teams to reduce health risk behaviors among school-aged youth.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Psychology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Tamika C B
authors.initials: TCB
authors.lastname: Zapolski
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods*; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012572:School Health Services; D015144:Southeastern United States; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: adolescents; dialectical behavioral therapy; health risk behaviors; school nursing; schools