Efficacy of Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents with non-suicidal self-injury and suicidal behavior: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression

Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A) is an adaption of the third wave DBT treatment based on behavior therapy and prioritizes suicidal and self-threatening behavior (self-harm, suicidal ideation and attempts). While numerous research was carried out to prove efficacy of DBT for adults, there is a lack of synthesized research overview for DBT-A. This systematic review aims to provide an overview of randomized control trials and clinical controlled trials to prove efficacy of DBT-A to decrease self-harm, suicidal ideation, depression and borderline-symptoms in adolescents. Further, this meta-analysis will investigate pre-post evaluations of DBT-A and targets to gain implications for clinical practice.