Anthony Spirito's current research interests focus on developing and testing new psychosocial treatments for adolescent substance use and adolescent depression/suicidal behavior.

Institutions

Rih

Research Description

Dr. Spirito has been conducting research in adolescent suicidality and depression for 25 years. Most recently, he has focused his efforts on treatment. Working with a postdoctoral fellow, he published the first randomized trial of individual therapy with adolescents who attempt suicide. He also conducted an intervention trial designed to improve treatment attendance in this population. He was also site CBT supervisor for a large multisite study, "The Treatment of Resistant Depression in Adolescence". He is nearing completion of three treatment development studies to determine if new approaches will increase the efficacy of depression treatments for adolescents. The first trial examined whether concurrently treating the depressed parent of a depressed teen will improve outcomes for the adolescent. The second study examined whether the addition of an exercise component to a CBT protocol will improve depression outcomes in overweight adolescents treated with CBT. And the third trial is testing an integrated approach for treating conduct problems in depressed adolescents.

With respect to alcohol and substance use treatment research, he has used individual motivational interventions with adolescents who presented to the Emergency Department (ED) with an alcohol-related admission. In an extension of the original work, he broadened the scope of the brief intervention to include a parent motivational intervention. He recently completed a study using this parent motivational approach, the Family Check-Up, with families who have teenage siblings in which one has been identified after an alcohol-related incident. He recently completed a study using both an individual adolescent motivational interview and the Family Check-up to address marijuana, sexual risk behavior, and school attendance in high school students who are truant from school. He also recently completed two prevention studies: One that modified the Family Check-Up for a protocol designed to prevent the onset of substance use in middle schoolers receiving mental health treatment while the other tested an alcohol prevention program with middle schoolers being treated in the ED for an injury.

With respect to combined treatments for depression, suicidality, and alcohol/drug use, he collaborated on a study of an integrated CBT protocol for adolescents with alcohol use disorders, MDD, and suicidality. He is now transporting this integrated protocol to the community and testing whether the protocol is effective when delivered by licensed mental health counselors in a community mental health clinic. He is also conducting a larger RCT of the integrated protocol for use with high risk adolescents psychiatrically hospitalized due to depression as well as at a suicide attempt, nonsuicidal self injury, or substance abuse.

Awards

Outstanding Teaching Award in Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychiatry Brown Medical School, 1997-1998
Fellow, Society of Clinical Psychology Division 12, APA, 2001.
Fellow, Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, APA, 2001.
Research Mentor Award, Department of Psychiatry, Brown Medical School, 2001.
President, Society of Pediatric Psychology, 2002.
Fellow, Society of Pediatric Psychology, American Psychological Association, 2002.
Full Member (Fellow), International Academy for Suicide Research, 2003.
Martin P. Levin Mentorship Award, Society of Pediatric Psychology, 2005.
President, Section on Clinical Emergencies and Crises, Society of Clinical Psychology, American Psychological Association, 2009
President, Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association , 2010
Faculty Mentor Award, Department of Psychiatry, Brown University,2010
Research Mentor Award, Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, 2010

Affiliations

American Psychological Association (APA)
Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, APA
Society of Pediatric Psychology, APA
Society of Clinical Psychology, APA
Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies
American Association of Suicidology
Research Society on Alcoholism

Funded Research

R01 AA020705 (Spirito) 4/20/12 – 4/19/17
NIH / NIAAA
Adolescents with Major Depression and AUD: Community-based Integrated Treatment

This application is designed to test whether a treatment protocol designed to treat adolescents with
comorbid mood and substance use problems is effective in the hands of Masters level clinicians in a
community mental health clinic.
Role: Principal Investigator

R01 MH 099703 (Spirito/Esposito-Smythers) 9/1/12 – 08/31/16
NIMH
Intensive Outpatient Risk Protocol with High Risk Suicidal Teens

The purpose of this application is to conduct a two group randomized controlled trial to test the primary aim that an intensive protocol designed to treat depressed, suicidal adolescents with an additional complicating risk factor will produce better treatment outcomes compared to standard care at the end of the active treatment (6 months), end of maintenance treatment (12 months) and at the final follow up point (18 months).
Role: Multiple Principal Investigator

R01 AA021900 (Spirito/Linakis) 9/1/12 – 8/31/17
NIH/NIAAA
Teen Alcohol Screening in the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network

The contribution of this large, geographically diverse, multi-site study will be to determine if the NIAAA two-question screen is an efficient and valid alcohol screening instrument among US pediatric emergency department patients. Concurrent, convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity of the two-question screen regarding alcohol misuse will be examined.
Role: Multiple Principal Investigator

R34 MH090147 (Yen) 2/15/11-12/31/13
NIMH
Coping Long Term with Attempted Suicide – Adolescents.

This treatment development award aims to pilot a multi-modal adjunctive intervention for suicidal adolescents. The intervention begins during the inpatient hospitalization and continues for six months post-discharge, the period of highest risk for re-attempts.
Role: Co-Investigator

R34 DA031337 01A1 (Skeer) 03/15/12-02/28/15
NIDA
A Brief Substance Use Preventive Intervention for Parents of Pre-Adolescents

The purpose of this grant is to pilot test a brief substance use preventive intervention for parents/guardians of pre-adolescents to determine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of the intervention.
Role: Co-Investigator

Selected Publications

• See CV