RGS0000003060 PCH Prospective RCT EXPAAND with Nested Intervention and Grant 9970: PCH EXPAAND: Nested Intervention which was successfully received by the Perth Children's Hospital Foundation (PCHF)

The PCH EXPAAND Project is WA-based study at Perth Children's Hospital (PCH) EXPAAND project that stands for EXploring Psychiatric and Attentional risk factors in children and Adolescents Needing intervention for Deliberate self-harm. More specifically, EXPAAND screens for dissociative symptoms and assesses Alexithymia, Substance Use Disorder, Attention Deficit /Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Sluggish Cognitive Tempo, all - identifiable and treatable conditions that could elevate the risk of DSH by different causal pathways.
This RCT study is being delivered in three parts. We assess the rates of these psychiatric and attention conditions in C&A with DSH at PCH Emergency Department across a 14-month period. We then investigate the statistical relationship between DSH behaviour and identified conditions in addition to specific psychosocial and trauma factors that we also screen for. The project includes pharmacological treatment for ADHD if detected. Finally, we deliver and evaluate the therapeutic arm of the study: a manualized brief psychotherapeutic intervention, known as Therapeutic Assessment (Ougrin et al., 2010).