How to Align DBT and DBT Skills with Adolescent Externalizing Problems

Jakubovic and Drabick (2023) provide an excellent overview of the impact of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)-based interventions for externalizing problems among adolescents. To strengthen this evidence base, we believe it is important to validate the degree to which DBT and DBT skills uniquely impact specific externalizing targets among adolescents with externalizing disorders. Here, we propose a research agenda to align DBT-based interventions with externalizing targets to guide sample selection, mechanism and target verification, and contextual factors to consider.