# Quantifying Real-world Effectiveness of Mental Health Interventions for Suicide Prevention in At-risk Adolescent and Transitional Age Youth

> **NIH NIH P50** · CAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLIANCE · 2021 · $260,378

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY AND ABSTRACT – Cambridge Health Alliance
ALACRITY for Early Screening and Treatment of High Risk Youth (eSToRY)
R34 - Quantifying real-world effectiveness of mental health interventions for suicide prevention in at-
risk adolescent and transitional age youth
Identifying effective suicide prevention strategies for racial/ethnic and language (REL)-diverse populations of
youth at high risk of suicide has enormous public health importance. Suicide rates for persons aged 10–24
have increased by more than 50% over the last decade in nearly every state and for nearly every racial/ethnic
minority group, with particularly concerning increases in suicide attempts among Black youth. In this project,
we utilize a unique clinical-sociocontextual dataset of over 15,000 youth patients at high risk for suicide to
conduct high-dimensional comparative effectiveness research (CER) of community-based mental health
interventions in the prevention of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors among REL-diverse adolescents and
transitional age youth. We leverage an enormous warehouse of clinical, insurance, criminal justice, individual-
and neighborhood-level social determinants of health data to multi-dimensionally match treatment and control
groups and assess the impact of differing community-based treatment regimes on suicidal outcomes.
In Aim 1, we propose innovative comparative effectiveness research using a large retrospective clinical-
sociocontextual dataset to identify effective treatments for suicide prevention, and how these differ across
REL-diverse groups.
In Aim 2, we identify a sub-sample of this cohort in the present day, following up our retrospective analysis with
a computerized adaptive test analyzing current day suicidal outcomes, psychopathology, and measures social
determinants of health and quality of care. This will allow for assessment of long-run treatment outcomes, and
how unobserved variables may bias comparative effectiveness research results.
This study lays the groundwork for two R01-level studies: 1) a larger CER trial of treatment regimes across
multiple institutions; and 2) a sequential multiple assignment randomized trial (SMART) that evaluates the
impact of systematic adaptation of treatment on suicide outcomes. The project will contribute to a better
understanding of whether, how, when, and for whom to alter the duration, frequency, type, or delivery of
treatments at pivotal steps in the episode of treatment, leading to interventions that will reduce the risk of
suicidality in vulnerable REL-diverse populations.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10205663
- **Project number:** 1P50MH126283-01
- **Recipient organization:** CAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLIANCE
- **Principal Investigator:** Philip S Wang
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $260,378
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-05-01 → 2025-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10205663

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10205663, Quantifying Real-world Effectiveness of Mental Health Interventions for Suicide Prevention in At-risk Adolescent and Transitional Age Youth (1P50MH126283-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10205663. Licensed CC0.

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