Development and piloting of a brief intervention for suicidal American Indian adolescents.

American Indian (AI) adolescents have the highest suicide death and
attempt rates of any U.S. group, yet few interventions have been developed
or evaluated for this population. This paper presents the first adaptation of
a brief evidence-based intervention for AI adolescents from one reservation
who made a suicide attempt. We describe our community-driven approach to
intervention development and a small pilot study (n = 13). Preliminary findings
indicate reductions in adolescents’ negative thinking, depression, and suicidal
ideation, and an increase in psychological service utilization. Key innovations
include delivery by AI paraprofessionals and potential to strengthen the
continuum of care between emergency department and outpatient settings.