STAY: helping teens stay in care for depression or suicide risk using regular progress check-ins
Strategic Treatment Assessment with Youth (STAY): A measurement-based care approach to promote treatment retention among youth with depression or suicide risk
This project uses regular patient-reported progress check-ins to make care more relevant and help teens with depression or suicide risk stay engaged in treatment.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Yale University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New Haven, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11228775 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you are a teen with depression or thoughts of suicide, STAY asks you to regularly report how you're feeling so your therapist can make treatment changes together with you and your caregivers. The program focuses on strengthening your relationship with your clinician and making treatment more acceptable and relevant to your needs. The team will pilot the approach, create clinic protocols and clinician training, and test whether these routine check-ins help teens stay in outpatient care. They will look at whether STAY reduces depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts while improving treatment retention.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are adolescents (including youths around age 12 and up) receiving outpatient mental health care who have depressive symptoms or are at risk for suicide, along with their caregivers.
Not a fit: This approach may not benefit youth who cannot complete regular self-reports (for example due to severe cognitive impairment, language barriers, or urgent need for inpatient care).
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, STAY could help more adolescents stay in mental health care, reduce depression symptoms, and lower suicide risk by tailoring treatment using regular feedback.
How similar studies have performed: Measurement-based care has improved depression outcomes in adult and some youth settings, but using it specifically to improve treatment retention for suicidal or depressed adolescents is a newer, pilot-stage application.
Where this research is happening
New Haven, United States
- Yale University — New Haven, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Connors, Elizabeth Halsted — Yale University
- Study coordinator: Connors, Elizabeth Halsted
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.