Purrble Use Among LGBTQ+ Young People With Self-Harm Experiences: Findings From a Qualitative Process Evaluation of a Randomized Controlled Trial

Difficulties with emotion regulation (ER) have widely been associated with the development and persistence of poor mental health, such as depression, anxiety, self-harmful thoughts, behaviors, and suicide attempts. Despite the importance of ER as a transdiagnostic risk factor, few interventions directly target ER. The impact of one such intervention, Purrble (a socially assistive robot; developed by Sproutel and Committee for Children), was recently evaluated when compared to treatment-as-usual (TAU) within a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with sexual orientation and gender identity minorities, that is, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (LGBTQ+) youth, who had self-harm experiences. However, while RCTs are well suited to evaluating effectiveness, they offer limited insight into how participants engage with, integrate, and perceive the value of interventions, like Purrble, in their everyday lives. Consequently, complementary qualitative process evaluation is needed to fully understand participants' experiences and contextualize trial outcomes.