Safety Planning for Autistic Youth: A Randomized Controlled Trial With Providers in Pediatric Clinics

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to examine the initial feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of Crisis Interventions for Pediatric Providers - Autism version (CIPP-A) for providers serving autistic youth in outpatient settings. The main question aims to answer: * Assess whether CIPP-A is feasible and acceptable to providers in development behavioral pediatric clinics? * Assess whether CIPP-A shows initial effectiveness in increasing providers confidence in managing suicide risk in autistic youth? If there is a comparison group: Researchers will compare CIPP-A to general safety planning intervention (SPI) on feasibility, acceptability, and initial effectiveness. Participants will be randomized to receive training in SPI or CIPP-A and complete online surveys and interviews over 6-months to measure feasibility, acceptability, and initial effectiveness.

Eligibility

Age range

18+ years

Sex

All

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Interventions

• Behavioral
  Safety Planning Intervention

  The Safety Planning Intervention (SPI) is leading, evidence-based intervention that manages risks associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviors in youth. The SPI is delivered by providers to youth and their parents/guardians and focuses on teaching the family a series of safety planning steps to keep youth safe as they experience suicidal thoughts and/or behaviors. The SPI can be delivered by providers to families in person or virtually during clinic visits, and shows effectiveness in increasing child safety. Further, the SPI is a flexible intervention that can be delivered by a variety of healthcare professionals (e.g., pediatricians, social workers, nurses, etc.). The SPI has been found to be effective when delivered in emergency, inpatient, and outpatient settings; in this study, the SPI will be delivered by providers in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatric (DBP) settings.

• Behavioral
  Crisis Interventions for Pediatric Providers - Autism version (CIPP-A)

  The CIPP-A is an autism-specific crisis intervention for pediatric providers co-developed by the PI (licensed psychologist) and autistic people, which was published in Pediatrics. Similar to the SPI, CIPP-A is delivered by providers to youth and their parents and focuses on teaching the family a series of crisis interventions to keep youth safe as they experience suicidal thoughts and/or behaviors, with autism-specific adaptations. Autism-specific adaptations include warning signs (e.g., sensory overload, social burnout) that may be unique to this population, as well as coping skills (e.g., quiet time alone in sensory friendly environment, engagement in preferred interests). The CIPP-A contains an overview of autism and how suicidal thoughts/behaviors may present differently in this population. The CIPP-A can be delivered by providers to families in person or virtually during clinic visits. Further, the CIPP-A is can be flexibly delivered by a variety of healthcare professionals.

Location