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Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based treatment for nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidal ideation, but controlled studies for adolescent inpatients are limited. These researchers compared records of 425 inpatients (age range, 12–17) treated with DBT in the first 8 months of a hospital's initiation of DBT with records of 376 historical controls — inpatients who had received intensive milieu treatment (including token economy, cognitive-behavioral group therapy, group general coping-skills sessions, and individual psychotherapy) in the year before the hospital implemented DBT.
Controls were of similar ages and sex but had a significantly longer average length of stay (11 days vs. 8 days in the DBT cohort); calendar mon…