Abbreviated Dialectical Behavior Therapy Virtual Skills Group for Caregivers of Adolescents: An Exploratory Study of Service User and Clinical Outcomes

Prior work emphasizes involving caregivers in youth mental health services. To support youth with emotion dysregulation, dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents (DBT-A) includes a multi-family skills group, wherein adolescents and caregivers learn skills together. However, limited work has examined the impact of caregiver involvement within DBT-A. The current study examines outcomes of two caregiver-only DBT-A skills groups adapted for abbreviated telehealth delivery. We report on caregivers' (N = 11, 100% mothers, 55% Hispanic) service user outcomes (e.g. self-efficacy at skill usage, group cohesion, therapeutic alliance) and clinical outcomes (i.e. their own emotion functioning, criticism, responses to their adolescent's negative emotions). Results indicate caregiver-only groups were feasible and acceptable, and suggest preliminary efficacy, including improvements in caregiver emotion functioning, distress during interactions with their adolescents, and adolescent-reported criticism. Caregivers also reported reductions in unsupportive responses with their adolescents. Overall, while we caution interpretation due to a small sample size, findings support the preliminary feasibility and efficacy of modifying caregiver participation in DBT-A to be less time-consuming and administered via telehealth.