Presenter(s)

• Jin Hyung Lim, PhD Student, University of California, Berkeley

Abstract

In the current study, I examined the theoretical and research base of the Dialectic Behavior Therapy Skills Training for Emotional Problem Solving for Adolescents (DBT STEPS-A) and suggested implications for educators to successfully implement this program and thus to reduce emotional dysregulation among middle and high school students. A synthesis of existing literature on DBT STEPS-A indicated that this program needs more theoretical and empirical support as a DBT skills instruction program, universal-level intervention program, and social emotional learning program. Moreover, to well establish DBT STEPS-A in the secondary school settings, educators need to receive training as program instructors, provide students with a culturally adaptive program, and integrate the Tier 1 intervention with the Tiers 2 and 3 support. A successful implementation of DBT STEPS-A would contribute to promoting students’ emotion regulation, and ultimately for preventing non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidal thinking and behavior (STB) among adolescents in general.