3 - (SYM 33) Outcomes of an App-enhanced Unified Protocol for Youth at Risk for Severe Psychopathology

Although transdiagnostic forms of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) have been evaluated in depressive and anxiety disorders, few studies have examined their applicability in youth more severe psychopathology, such as recurrent or persistent major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, or psychotic disorders. In this symposium, we will present our work investigating the use of the Unified Protocol for Adolescents [UP-A] for high-school aged youth with severe psychopathology and their parents held in a group format over 9 weekly sessions. We will also discuss findings related to a mobile application (app) that was developed as an adjunct to the UP-A to assist participants in reviewing session content, practicing skills learned in previous sessions, and monitoring progress. First, we will present the acceptability and initial effects of our open trial of the app-enhanced UP-A (termed App-UP) for youth with severe psychopathology (N=24; M age = 15.2 years, SD = 1.6). Youth participants and their parents found the group treatment and mobile app to be acceptable and useful. We observed significant improvements over 9 weeks in youths’ depressive symptoms, psychosis-risk symptoms, and global functioning as well as family functioning. Additionally, the frequency with which adolescents used the mobile app between sessions was positively related to symptomatic and functional gains. We will then present the preliminary psychiatric and psychosocial outcomes for the currently ongoing randomized controlled trial in which we are comparing the app-enhanced UP-A (App-UP) to the standard UP-A group treatment without a mobile application. We currently have 39 youth and at least one primary caregiver already enrolled in the study and expect to have about 60 youth enrolled by the ABCT convention in November.