Cognitive behaviour therapy for improving social recovery in psychosis: a report from the ISREP MRC Trial Platform Study (Improving Social Recovery in Early Psychosis)

Cognitive behavioural therapy added to standard care for first-episode and recent-onset psychosis

BACKGROUND

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can be effective in the general population of people with schizophrenia. It is still unclear whether CBT can be effectively used in the population of people with a first-episode or recent-onset psychosis.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the effects of adding cognitive behavioural therapy to standard care for people with a first-episode or recent-onset psychosis.

SEARCH METHODS

We conducted a systematic search on 6 March 2022 in the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Study-Based Register of Trials, which is based on CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, ISRCTN, and WHO ICTRP.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing CBT added to standard care vs standard care in first-episode or recent-onset psychosis, in patients of any age.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors (amongst SFM, CC, LK and IB) independently screened references for inclusion, extracted data from eligible studies and assessed the risk of bias using RoB2. Study authors were contacted for missing data and additional information. Our primary outcome was general mental state measured on a validated rating scale. Secondary outcomes included other specific measures of mental state, global state, relapse, admission to hospital, functioning, leaving the study early, cognition, quality of life, satisfaction with care, self-injurious or aggressive behaviour, adverse events, and mortality.

MAIN RESULTS

We included 28 studies, of which 26 provided data on 2407 participants (average age 24 years). The mean sample size in the included studies was 92 participants (ranging from 19 to 444) and duration ranged between 26 and 52 weeks. When looking at the results at combined time points (mainly up to one year after start of the intervention), CBT added to standard care was associated with a greater reduction in overall symptoms of schizophrenia (standardised mean difference (SMD) -0.27, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.47 to -0.08, 20 RCTs, n = 1508, I2 = 68%, substantial heterogeneity, low certainty of the evidence), and also with a greater reduction in positive (SMD -0.22, 95% CI -0.38 to -0.06, 22 RCTs, n = 1565, I² = 52%, moderate heterogeneity), negative (SMD -0.20, 95% CI -0.30 to -0.11, 22 RCTs, n = 1651, I² = 0%) and depressive symptoms (SMD -0.13, 95% CI -0.24 to -0.01, 18 RCTs, n = 1182, I² = 0%) than control. CBT added to standard care was also associated with a greater improvement in the global state (SMD -0.34, 95% CI -0.67 to -0.01, 4 RCTs, n = 329, I² = 47%, moderate heterogeneity) and in functioning (SMD -0.23, 95% CI -0.42 to -0.05, 18 RCTs, n = 1241, I² = 53%, moderate heterogeneity, moderate certainty of the evidence) than control. We did not find a difference between CBT added to standard care and control in terms of number of participants with relapse (relative risk (RR) 0.82, 95% CI 0.57 to 1.18, 7 RCTs, n = 693, I² = 48%, low certainty of the evidence), leaving the study early for any reason (RR 0.87, 95% CI 0.72 to 1.05, 25 RCTs, n = 2242, I² = 12%, moderate certainty of the evidence), adverse events (RR 1.29, 95% CI 0.85 to 1.97, 1 RCT, n = 43, very low certainty of the evidence) and the other investigated outcomes.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

This review synthesised the latest evidence on CBT added to standard care for people with a first-episode or recent-onset psychosis. The evidence identified by this review suggests that people with a first-episode or recent-onset psychosis may benefit from CBT additionally to standard care for multiple outcomes (overall, positive, negative and depressive symptoms of schizophrenia, global state and functioning). Future studies should better define this population, for which often heterogeneous definitions are used.

Measures of Social and Occupational Function in Early Psychosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Deficits in social and occupational function are widely reported in psychosis, yet no one measure of function is currently agreed upon as a gold standard in psychosis research. The aim of this study was to carry out a systematic review and meta-analysis of functioning measures to determine what measures were associated with largest effect sizes when measuring between-group differences, changes over time, or response to treatment. Literature searches were conducted based on PsycINFO and PubMed to identify studies for inclusion. Cross-sectional and longitudinal observational and intervention studies of early psychosis (≤5 years since diagnosis) that included social and occupational functioning as an outcome measure were considered. A series of meta-analyses were conducted to determine effect size differences for between-group differences, changes over time, or response to treatment. Subgroup analyses and meta-regression were carried out to account for variability in study and participant characteristics. One hundred and sixteen studies were included, 46 studies provided data (N = 13 261) relevant to our meta-analysis. Smallest effect sizes for changes in function over time and in response to treatment were observed for global measures, while more specific measures of social and occupational function showed the largest effect sizes. Differences in effect sizes between functioning measures remained significant after variability in study and participant characteristics were accounted for. Findings suggest that more specific measures of social function are better able to detect changes in function over time and in response to treatment.

Participant perspectives on cognitive remediation and social recovery in early psychosis (CReSt-R): An acceptability study

AIM

Psychosis spectrum disorders continue to rank highly among causes of disability. This has resulted in efforts to expand the range of treatment targets beyond symptom remission to include other recovery markers, including social and occupational function and quality of life. Although the efficacy of psychosocial interventions in early psychosis has been widely reported, the acceptability of these interventions is less well-known. This study explores the participant perspective on a novel, psychosocial intervention combining cognitive remediation and social recovery therapy.

METHODS

We employed a qualitative research design, based on semi-structured interviews and reflexive thematic analysis. Six participants with early psychosis were recruited from the intervention arm of a randomized pilot study, three women and three men, aged between 22 and 27 years.

RESULTS

Four themes were developed through the analytical process, namely, (1) a solid therapeutic foundation, (2) multi-directional flow of knowledge, (3) a tailored toolset, and (4) an individual pathway to recovery. Participants also provided pragmatic feedback about how to improve the delivery of the therapy assessments and intervention. Both the themes and pragmatic feedback are described.

CONCLUSIONS

People with early psychosis described the intervention as acceptable, engaging, helpful and person-centred, suggesting its potential role in a multicomponent therapy model of early intervention in psychosis services. Participants in this study also highlight the importance of an individualized approach to therapy, the vital role of the therapeutic relationship and the ecological validity and value of adopting an assertive outreach delivery, providing therapy outside a conventional clinic setting.

What's the impact of voice-hearing experiences on the social relating of young people: A comparison between help-seeking young people who did and did not hear voices

Limited research has explored the specific impact of voice-hearing experiences upon the social relating of adolescents. This study examined the associations of voice-hearing in youth with social relating, and putative explanatory factors. An observational, cross-sectional design using a clinical comparison group was employed to examine historical and concurrent associations with voice-hearing. Thirty-four young people (age 14-18 years) with voice-hearing experiences and 34 young people who did not hear voices were recruited from NHS mental health services. Participants completed measures about social relating and potential explanatory factors. Analyses of covariance were used to examine between-group differences. Voice-hearers scored higher on negative schematic beliefs (self-beliefs, partial η2 = .163, p = .001; other-beliefs, partial η2 = .152, p =. 002) and depressive and anxiety symptoms (partial η2 = .23 and partial η2 = .24, p-s <. 001 respectively). The two groups did not differ significantly on childhood trauma levels (partial η2 = .02, p = .273), however, the voice-hearing group scored lower on premorbid adjustment (partial η2 = .19, p < .001). Hearing voices in help-seeking youth could be an indicator for social relating issues and holding negative schematic beliefs, and may be an indicator for of increased psychopathological complexity. Although poorer premorbid adjustment might indicate an early vulnerability to social relating difficulties, voice-hearing might be an aggravating factor and one that requires treatment.

The application of cognitive behavioral therapy in patients with schizophrenia: A review

The aim of this review is to explore the clinical nursing application of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in patients with schizophrenia. A literature search was conducted using the CINAHL and MEDLINE databases. The database search occurred during the month of December 2022. This article comprehensively summarizes the theoretical basis of CBT in improving schizophrenia in clinical nursing, its application in managing symptoms and improving social function, as well as research progress in this field. There are still inconsistencies in the research results on CBT, but overall, psychological intervention combined with drug treatment is more effective than conventional treatment alone. If social function training can be added at the same time, it is believed that it will have better effects on clinical treatment and can maintain long-lasting effectiveness. Only in this way can patients truly understand and recognize the disease, improve treatment compliance, and ultimately achieve the goal of improving prognosis and quality of life.

Social and occupational recovery in early psychosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of psychosocial interventions

BACKGROUND

Psychosis, even in its early stages, ranks highly among the causes of disability worldwide, resulting in an increased focus on improved recovery of social and occupational functioning. This study aimed to provide an estimate of the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for improving functioning in early psychosis. We also sought evidence of superiority between intervention approaches.

METHODS

An electronic search was conducted using PubMed and PsycINFO to identify original articles reporting on trials of psychosocial interventions in early-stage psychosis, published up to December 2020 and is reported following PRISMA guidelines. Data were extracted on validated measures of functioning from included studies and pooled standardised mean difference (SMD) was estimated.

RESULTS

In total, 31 studies involving 2811 participants were included, focusing on: cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp), family-based therapy, supported employment, cognitive remediation training (CRT) and multi-component psychosocial interventions. Across interventions, improved function was observed (SMD = 0.239; 95% confidence interval 0.115-0.364, p < 0.001). Effect sizes varied by intervention type, stage of illness, length and duration of treatment and outcome measure used. In particular, interventions based on CRT significantly outperformed symptom-focused CBT interventions, while multi-component interventions were associated with largest gains.

CONCLUSIONS

Psychosocial interventions, particularly when provided as part of a multi-component intervention model and delivered in community-based settings are associated with significant improvements in social and occupational function. This review underscores the value of sensitively tracking and targeting psychosocial function as part of the standard provided by early intervention services.

Trauma-focused therapies for post-traumatic stress in psychosis: study protocol for the RE.PROCESS randomized controlled trial

INTRODUCTION

Many people with psychotic disorders experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In recent years, several trauma-focused therapies (TFTs), including cognitive restructuring (CR), prolonged exposure (PE), and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) have been studied and found to be safe and effective in reducing PTSD symptoms in individuals with psychosis. However, studies were conducted in different countries, with varying inclusion criteria, therapy duration, control groups, and trial outcomes. RE.PROCESS will be the first study to compare the impact of CR, PE, and EMDR with a waiting list control condition within the same context.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

This is the protocol of a pragmatic, single-blind, multicentre, superiority randomized controlled trial, in which CR, PE, and EMDR are compared to a waiting list control condition for TFT (WL) in a naturalistic treatment setting. Inclusion criteria are as follows: age ≥ 16 years; meeting full DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for PTSD on the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5), with a total CAPS score ≥ 23; and a psychotic disorder in the schizophrenia spectrum confirmed by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5). Participants (N=200) will be randomly allocated to 16 sessions of one of the TFTs or WL, in addition to receiving treatment as usual (TAU) for psychosis. The primary objective is to compare the effects of CR, PE, and EMDR to WL on researcher-rated severity of PTSD symptoms over time from baseline to 6-month follow-up. Secondary objectives are to examine these effects at the separate time-points (i.e., mid-treatment, post-treatment, and at 6-month follow-up) and to test the effects for clinician-rated presence of PTSD diagnosis, and self-rated severity of (complex) PTSD symptoms.

DISCUSSION

This is the first RCT to directly compare the effects of CR, PE, and EMDR within the same context to TAU on PTSD symptoms in individuals with psychosis and PTSD. Secondary effects on clinical and functional outcomes will be investigated both directly after therapy and long term.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ISRCTN ISRCTN56150327 . Registered 18 June 2019.

Cognitive Remediation and Social Recovery in Early Psychosis (CReSt-R): protocol for a pilot randomised controlled study

BACKGROUND

Psychosis, even in its early stages, is associated with significant disability, causing it to be ranked ahead of paraplegia and blindness in those aged 18-35 in terms of years lived with disability. Current pharmacological and psychological interventions intervention have focused primarily on the reduction of positive symptoms (hallucinations and delusions), with little benefit to domains of psychosis such as cognitive difficulties and social and occupational functioning.

METHODS/DESIGN

The CReSt-R intervention trial is a single center, pilot randomised controlled study based at the National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway. The trial will recruit participants from four clinical sites with assessment and intervention completed by the primary NUI Galway team. The trial will explore the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of a novel psychosocial intervention for early psychosis based on a combined cognitive remediation training and cognitive behavioural therapy approach focused on social recovery. Participants, aged 16-35 within the first 5 years of a diagnosed psychotic disorder, will be recruited from the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service and the Adult Mental Health Services in the region.

DISCUSSION

Cognitive remediation training (for improving cognition) and social recovery focused cognitive behavioural therapy, have both separately demonstrated effectiveness. This trial will evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and explore the efficacy of a treatment approach that combines both approaches as part of an integrated, multicomponent intervention.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Cognitive Remediation & Social Recovery in Early Psychosis (CReSt-R): ClincialTrials.gov Identifier NCT04273685. Trial registered Feb 18th, 2020. Last updated April 14th, 2021.

Social recovery therapy for young people with emerging severe mental illness: the Prodigy RCT

BACKGROUND

Young people with social disability and non-psychotic severe and complex mental health problems are an important group. Without intervention, their social problems can persist and have large economic and personal costs. Thus, more effective evidence-based interventions are needed. Social recovery therapy is an individual therapy incorporating cognitive-behavioural techniques to increase structured activity as guided by the participant's goals.

OBJECTIVE

This trial aimed to test whether or not social recovery therapy provided as an adjunct to enhanced standard care over 9 months is superior to enhanced standard care alone. Enhanced standard care aimed to provide an optimal combination of existing evidence-based interventions.

DESIGN

A pragmatic, single-blind, superiority randomised controlled trial was conducted in three UK centres: Sussex, Manchester and East Anglia. Participants were aged 16-25 years with persistent social disability, defined as < 30 hours per week of structured activity with social impairment for at least 6 months. Additionally, participants had severe and complex mental health problems, defined as at-risk mental states for psychosis or non-psychotic severe and complex mental health problems indicated by a Global Assessment of Functioning score ≤ 50 persisting for ≥ 6 months. Two hundred and seventy participants were randomised 1 : 1 to either enhanced standard care plus social recovery therapy or enhanced standard care alone. The primary outcome was weekly hours spent in structured activity at 15 months post randomisation. Secondary outcomes included subthreshold psychotic, negative and mood symptoms. Outcomes were collected at 9 and 15 months post randomisation, with maintenance assessed at 24 months.

RESULTS

The addition of social recovery therapy did not significantly increase weekly hours in structured activity at 15 months (primary outcome treatment effect -4.44, 95% confidence interval -10.19 to 1.31). We found no evidence of significant differences between conditions in secondary outcomes at 15 months: Social Anxiety Interaction Scale treatment effect -0.45, 95% confidence interval -4.84 to 3.95; Beck Depression Inventory-II treatment effect -0.32, 95% confidence interval -4.06 to 3.42; Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States symptom severity 0.29, 95% confidence interval -4.35 to 4.94; or distress treatment effect 4.09, 95% confidence interval -3.52 to 11.70. Greater Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States for psychosis scores reflect greater symptom severity. We found no evidence of significant differences at 9 or 24 months. Social recovery therapy was not estimated to be cost-effective. The key limitation was that missingness of data was consistently greater in the enhanced standard care-alone arm (9% primary outcome and 15% secondary outcome missingness of data) than in the social recovery therapy plus enhanced standard care arm (4% primary outcome and 9% secondary outcome missingness of data) at 15 months.

CONCLUSIONS

We found no evidence for the clinical superiority or cost-effectiveness of social recovery therapy as an adjunct to enhanced standard care. Both arms made large improvements in primary and secondary outcomes. Enhanced standard care included a comprehensive combination of evidence-based pharmacological, psychotherapeutic and psychosocial interventions. Some results favoured enhanced standard care but the majority were not statistically significant. Future work should identify factors associated with the optimal delivery of the combinations of interventions that underpin better outcomes in this often-neglected clinical group.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN47998710.

FUNDING

This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment Vol. 25, No. 70. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

Occupational therapy and psychosis: POINTER feasibility study for a pragmatic clinical trial

Introduction

The dearth of clinical trials of individualised occupational therapy with people with a diagnosis of psychosis limits the evidence base globally for occupational therapy practice. This study evaluated the feasibility of conducting a pragmatic clinical trial.

Method

Mixed methods design using a pragmatic perspective; two-centre, one-group pretest-posttest study, at six months. POINTER Occupational Intervention Specification captured routine individualised occupational therapy. Process evaluation included recruitment, retention, intervention delivery, fidelity, adherence and outcome measurement. The primary outcome was participation in activities of everyday life, measured by Time Use Survey, Participation Scale and Utrecht Scale for Evaluation of Rehabilitation-Participation. The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure measured self-reported experience of and satisfaction with occupational performance. The Short Form-36v2 Health Survey measured health-related quality of life, a secondary outcome. Participants’ experiences were explored using a questionnaire. Intervention providers’ perspectives were investigated via the POINTER occupational intervention log and focus groups.

Results

Recruitment was (20/36) and drop-out 20% (4/20). Fidelity was 77%, and adherence was good; POINTER had validity and utility. Outcome measurement was acceptable to participants, indicating increased participation in activities of everyday life.

Conclusion

A larger clinical trial is merited; recruitment processes need further exploration, and outcome measurement needs refining.

Piloting the 'Youth Early-intervention Study' ('YES'): Preliminary functional outcomes of a randomized controlled trial targeting social participation and physical well-being in young people with emerging mental disorders

INTRODUCTION

Young people with mental disorders present with diverse social, vocational, physical, and developmental needs. However, multifaceted interventions are rare. We examine the effectiveness of a clinical trial targeting social participation and physical well-being in young people accessing clinical services.

METHODS

The 'Youth Early-intervention Study' ('YES') was an unblinded, two-phase, pilot randomized controlled trial offered as an adjunct to standard clinical care, consisting of group activities. Mixed effects models were used to examine functional outcomes over time measured by the 'Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale', 'Functioning Assessment Short Test', and 'Brief Disability Questionnaire' (items 7 and 8).

RESULTS

133 participants aged 14-25 were recruited. 87 participants completed both arms and 83 participants completed a 12-month post-trial assessment. Functioning improved across all outcomes. While diagnoses differed in functioning at baseline (lower functioning in psychotic and bipolar disorders compared to depression), they did not differ in the rate of improvement across any measure. Randomization groups did not differ in baseline functioning or the rate of improvement, suggesting a non-specific impact of the intervention. Engagement with education increased from 11% at baseline to 51% at 12-months post-trial and full-time employment increased from 8% at baseline to 20% at 12-months post-trial.

LIMITATIONS

Small sample, no control group, and unmeasured potential moderators (e.g. neurocognitive impairment).

CONCLUSIONS

'YES' was effective and preliminary positive outcomes were observed across all functional outcomes. Future studies should compare the 'YES' intervention to a treatment-as-usual control condition and conduct a multi-centre trial across early intervention service sites.

Improved social functioning following social recovery therapy in first episode psychosis: Do social cognition and neurocognition change following therapy, and do they predict treatment response?

There is a need to develop and refine psychosocial interventions to improve functioning in First Episode Psychosis (FEP). Social cognition and neurocognition are closely linked to functioning in psychosis; examinations of cognition pre- and post- psychosocial intervention may provide insights into the mechanisms of these interventions, and identify which individuals are most likely to benefit.

METHOD

Cognition was assessed within a multi-site trial of Social Recovery Therapy (SRT) for individuals with FEP experiencing poor functioning (<30 h weekly structured activity). Fifty-nine participants were randomly allocated to the therapy group (SRT + Early intervention), and 64 were allocated to treatment as usual group (TAU - early intervention care). Social cognition and neurocognition were assessed at baseline and 9 months; assessors were blind to group allocation. It was hypothesized that social cognition would improve following therapy, and those with better social cognition prior to therapy would benefit the most from SRT.

RESULTS

There was no significant impact of SRT on individual neurocognitive or social cognitive variables, however, joint models addressing patterns of missingness demonstrate improvement across a number of cognitive outcomes following SRT. Further, regression analyses showed those who had better social cognition at baseline were most likely to benefit from the therapy (ß = 0.350; 95% CI = 0.830 to 8.891; p = .019).

CONCLUSION

It is not clear if SRT impacts on social cognitive or neurocognitive function, however, SRT may be beneficial in those with better social cognition at baseline.

Remembering the past to live better in the future: A feasibility randomised controlled trial of memory specificity training for motivation in psychosis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

People with a diagnosis of psychosis often experience low motivation and reduced activity levels. Autobiographical memory deficits have been identified in people with psychosis and this may limit the role of memory retrieval in supporting motivation. This pilot study adapted a recently developed protocol, Memflex, which aims to enhance autobiographical memory and has shown promise in depression. Our brief intervention targets experiential negative symptoms of psychosis using supported autobiographical memory retrieval.

METHOD

A sample of 31 participants with psychosis were recruited from inpatient and community settings and randomised in a 2:1 ratio to either a basic recall control or an enhanced recall intervention group. Participants were asked to generate positive autobiographical memories linked to activities they wish to repeat in the future. The enhanced recall condition received additional prompts from the Memflex protocol, and the basic recall condition received no additional support.

RESULTS

The intervention delivered was acceptable (rated >80%) and feasible (94% adherence) to those who took part. Participants were able to generate positive autobiographical memories linked to their goals and experienced appropriate emotions linked to these. The controlled preliminary effect sizes (0.2-0.34) showed encouraging signals for self-efficacy, motivation and a reduction in negative mood.

LIMITATIONS

As this was a pilot study with a small sample size between-group tests of statistical significance were not conducted, and therefore findings should be interpreted with caution.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that guided autobiographical memory retrieval may be an effective way tool for targeting motivation in people with psychosis.

Right care, first time: a highly personalised and measurement-based care model to manage youth mental health

Mood and psychotic syndromes most often emerge during adolescence and young adulthood, a period characterised by major physical and social change. Consequently, the effects of adolescent-onset mood and psychotic syndromes can have long term consequences. A key clinical challenge for youth mental health is to develop and test new systems that align with current evidence for comorbid presentations and underlying neurobiology, and are useful for predicting outcomes and guiding decisions regarding the provision of appropriate and effective care. Our highly personalised and measurement-based care model includes three core concepts: ▶ A multidimensional assessment and outcomes framework that includes: social and occupational function; self-harm, suicidal thoughts and behaviour; alcohol or other substance misuse; physical health; and illness trajectory. ▶ Clinical stage. ▶ Three common illness subtypes (psychosis, anxious depression, bipolar spectrum) based on proposed pathophysiological mechanisms (neurodevelopmental, hyperarousal, circadian). The model explicitly aims to prevent progression to more complex and severe forms of illness and is better aligned to contemporary models of the patterns of emergence of psychopathology. Inherent within this highly personalised approach is the incorporation of other evidence-based processes, including real-time measurement-based care as well as utilisation of multidisciplinary teams of health professionals. Data-driven local system modelling and personalised health information technologies provide crucial infrastructure support to these processes for better access to, and higher quality, mental health care for young people. CHAPTER 1: MULTIDIMENSIONAL OUTCOMES IN YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH CARE: WHAT MATTERS AND WHY?: Mood and psychotic syndromes present one of the most serious public health challenges that we face in the 21st century. Factors including prevalence, age of onset, and chronicity contribute to substantial burden and secondary risks such as alcohol or other substance misuse. Mood and psychotic syndromes most often emerge during adolescence and young adulthood, a period characterised by major physical and social change; thus, effects can have long term consequences. We propose five key domains which make up a multidimensional outcomes framework that aims to address the specific needs of young people presenting to health services with emerging mental illness. These include social and occupational function; self-harm, suicidal thoughts and behaviours; alcohol or other substance misuse; physical health; and illness type, stage and trajectory. Impairment and concurrent morbidity are well established in young people by the time they present for mental health care. Despite this, services and health professionals tend to focus on only one aspect of the presentation - illness type, stage and trajectory - and are often at odds with the preferences of young people and their families. There is a need to address the disconnect between mental health, physical health and social services and interventions, to ensure that youth mental health care focuses on the outcomes that matter to young people. CHAPTER 2: COMBINING CLINICAL STAGE AND PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS TO UNDERSTAND ILLNESS TRAJECTORIES IN YOUNG PEOPLE WITH EMERGING MOOD AND PSYCHOTIC SYNDROMES: Traditional diagnostic classification systems for mental disorders map poorly onto the early stages of illness experienced by young people, and purport categorical distinctions that are not readily supported by research into genetic, environmental and neurobiological risk factors. Consequently, a key clinical challenge in youth mental health is to develop and test new classification systems that align with current evidence on comorbid presentations, are consistent with current understanding of underlying neurobiology, and provide utility for predicting outcomes and guiding decisions regarding the provision of appropriate and effective care. This chapter outlines a transdiagnostic framework for classifying common adolescent-onset mood and psychotic syndromes, combining two independent but complementary dimensions: clinical staging, and three proposed pathophysiological mechanisms. Clinical staging reflects the progression of mental disorders and is in line with the concept used in general medicine, where more advanced stages are associated with a poorer prognosis and a need for more intensive interventions with a higher risk-to-benefit ratio. The three proposed pathophysiological mechanisms are neurodevelopmental abnormalities, hyperarousal and circadian dysfunction, which, over time, have illness trajectories (or pathways) to psychosis, anxious depression and bipolar spectrum disorders, respectively. The transdiagnostic framework has been evaluated in young people presenting to youth mental health clinics of the University of Sydney's Brain and Mind Centre, alongside a range of clinical and objective measures. Our research to date provides support for this framework, and we are now exploring its application to the development of more personalised models of care. CHAPTER 3: A COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK FOR YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH: GUIDING HIGHLY PERSONALISED AND MEASUREMENT-BASED CARE USING MULTIDIMENSIONAL AND OBJECTIVE MEASURES: There is an urgent need for improved care for young people with mental health problems, in particular those with subthreshold mental disorders that are not sufficiently severe to meet traditional diagnostic criteria. New comprehensive assessment frameworks are needed to capture the biopsychosocial profile of a young person to drive highly personalised and measurement-based mental health care. We present a range of multidimensional measures involving five key domains: social and occupational function; self-harm, suicidal thoughts and behaviours; alcohol or other substance misuse; physical health; and illness type, stage and trajectory. Objective measures include: neuropsychological function; sleep-wake behaviours and circadian rhythms; metabolic and immune markers; and brain structure and function. The recommended multidimensional measures facilitate the development of a comprehensive clinical picture. The objective measures help to further develop informative and novel insights into underlying pathophysiological mechanisms and illness trajectories to guide personalised care plans. A panel of specific multidimensional and objective measures are recommended as standard clinical practice, while others are recommended secondarily to provide deeper insights with the aim of revealing alternative clinical paths for targeted interventions and treatments matched to the clinical stage and proposed pathophysiological mechanisms of the young person. CHAPTER 4: PERSONALISING CARE OPTIONS IN YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH: USING MULTIDIMENSIONAL ASSESSMENT, CLINICAL STAGE, PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS, AND INDIVIDUAL ILLNESS TRAJECTORIES TO GUIDE TREATMENT SELECTION: New models of mental health care for young people require that interventions be matched to illness type, clinical stage, underlying pathophysiological mechanisms and individual illness trajectories. Narrow syndrome-focused classifications often direct clinical attention away from other key factors such as functional impairment, self-harm and suicidality, alcohol or other substance misuse, and poor physical health. By contrast, we outline a treatment selection guide for early intervention for adolescent-onset mood and psychotic syndromes (ie, active treatments and indicated and more specific secondary prevention strategies). This guide is based on experiences with the Brain and Mind Centre's highly personalised and measurement-based care model to manage youth mental health. The model incorporates three complementary core concepts: ▶A multidimensional assessment and outcomes framework including: social and occupational function; self-harm, suicidal thoughts and behaviours; alcohol or other substance misuse; physical health; and illness trajectory. ▶Clinical stage. ▶Three common illness subtypes (psychosis, anxious depression, bipolar spectrum) based on three underlying pathophysiological mechanisms (neurodevelopmental, hyperarousal, circadian). These core concepts are not mutually exclusive and together may facilitate improved outcomes through a clinical stage-appropriate and transdiagnostic framework that helps guide decisions regarding the provision of appropriate and effective care options. Given its emphasis on adolescent-onset mood and psychotic syndromes, the Brain and Mind Centre's model of care also respects a fundamental developmental perspective - categorising childhood problems (eg, anxiety and neurodevelopmental difficulties) as risk factors and respecting the fact that young people are in a period of major biological and social transition. Based on these factors, a range of social, psychological and pharmacological interventions are recommended, with an emphasis on balancing the personal benefit-to-cost ratio. CHAPTER 5: A SERVICE DELIVERY MODEL TO SUPPORT HIGHLY PERSONALISED AND MEASUREMENT-BASED CARE IN YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH: Over the past decade, we have seen a growing focus on creating mental health service delivery models that better meet the unique needs of young Australians. Recent policy directives from the Australian Government recommend the adoption of stepped-care services to improve the appropriateness of care, determined by severity of need. Here, we propose that a highly personalised approach enhances stepped-care models by incorporating clinical staging and a young person's current and multidimensional needs. It explicitly aims to prevent progression to more complex and severe forms of illness and is better aligned to contemporary models of the patterns of emergence of psychopathology. Inherent within a highly personalised approach is the incorporation of other evidence-based processes, including real-time measurement-based care and use of multidisciplinary teams of health professionals. Data-driven local system modelling and personalised health information technologies provide crucial infrastructure support to these processes for better access to, and higher quality of, mental health care for young people.

Cognitive behavior therapy in early psychosis with a focus on depression and low self-esteem: A randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Patients in early phases of psychosis often struggle with depressive symptoms and low self-esteem. The main aims of the present study were to examine whether cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) compared to treatment as usual (TAU) would reduce depressive symptoms (primary outcome) and increase self-esteem (secondary outcome). Furthermore, we wanted to examine whether CBT reduces symptoms measured with the PANSS (positive, negative, cognitive, or excited symptoms) or increases general functioning compared to TAU.

METHODS

A total of 63 early psychosis patients were included and randomly assigned to receive either CBT (maximum 26 sessions) or TAU for a period of up to six months. A linear mixed model was used for longitudinal analysis, with a focus on whether patients in the CBT group or the TAU group changed differently to one another between the baseline and 15-month follow-up.

RESULTS

There were no differences between the CBT group and TAU group regarding improvements in depressive symptoms measured with the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (P = 0.188) or self-esteem measured with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (P = 0.580). However, patients in the CBT group improved significantly more on negative symptoms (P = 0.002) and social functioning (P = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

We did not find CBT to be more effective than TAU in reducing depressive symptoms or increasing self-esteem in patients with early psychosis. However, CBT seems to improve negative symptoms and functioning. These results still need to be replicated in further studies as the present one was merely an exploratory analysis. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01511406.

Clinical Stage Transitions in Persons Aged 12 to 25 Years Presenting to Early Intervention Mental Health Services With Anxiety, Mood, and Psychotic Disorders

Importance

The large contribution of psychiatric disorders to premature death and persistent disability among young people means that earlier identification and enhanced long-term care for those who are most at risk of developing life-threatening or chronic disorders is critical. Clinical staging as an adjunct to diagnosis to address emerging psychiatric disorders has been proposed for young people presenting for care; however, the longer-term utility of this system has not been established.

Objectives

To determine the rates of transition from earlier to later stages of anxiety, mood, psychotic, or comorbid disorders and to identify the demographic and clinical characteristics that are associated with the time course of these transitions.

Design, Setting, and Participants

A longitudinal, observational study of 2254 persons aged 12 to 25 years who obtained mental health care at 2 early intervention mental health services in Sydney, Australia, and were recruited to a research register between June 18, 2008, and July 24, 2018 (the Brain and Mind Centre Optymise Cohort).

Main Outcomes and Measures

The primary outcome of this study was transition from earlier to later clinical stages. A multistate Markov model was used to examine demographic (ie, age, sex, engagement in education, employment, or both) and clinical (ie, social and occupational function, clinical presentation, personal history of mental illness, physical health comorbidities, treatment use, self-harm, suicidal thoughts and behaviors) factors associated with these transitions.

Results

Of the 2254 individuals included in the study, mean (SD) age at baseline was 18.18 (3.33) years and 1330 (59.0%) were female. Data on race/ethnicity were not available. Median (interquartile range) follow-up was 14 (5-33) months. Of 685 participants at stage 1a (nonspecific symptoms), 253 (36.9%) transitioned to stage 1b (attenuated syndromes). Transition was associated with lower social functioning (hazard ratio [HR], 0.77; 95% CI, 0.66-0.90), engagement with education, employment, or both (HR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.25-0.91), manic-like experiences (HR, 2.12; 95% CI, 1.19-3.78), psychotic-like experiences (HR, 2.13; 95% CI, 1.38-3.28), self-harm (HR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.01-1.99), and older age (HR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.11-1.45). Of 1370 stage 1b participants, 176 (12.8%) transitioned to stage 2 (full-threshold) disorders. Transition was associated with psychotic-like experiences (HR, 2.31; 95% CI, 1.65-3.23), circadian disturbance (HR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.17-2.35), psychiatric medication (HR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.03-1.99), childhood psychiatric disorder (HR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.03-2.54), and older age (HR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.05-1.45).

Conclusions and Relevance

Differential rates of progression from earlier to later stages of anxiety, mood, psychotic, or comorbid disorders were observed in young persons who presented for care at various stages. Understanding the rate and factors associated with transition assists planning of stage-specific clinical interventions and secondary prevention trials.

Self-defining Memories Predict Engagement in Structured Activity in First Episode Psychosis, Independent of Neurocognition and Metacognition

BACKGROUND

Self-defining memories (SDMs) are vivid personal memories, related to narrative identity. Individuals with schizophrenia report less specific, more negative, and extract less meaning from these memories compared to control groups. SDMs have been shown to be predicted by neurocognition, associated with metacognition, and linked to goal outcomes in healthy controls. As neurocognition and metacognition are known predictors of poor functioning in psychosis, SDMs may also be a predictor. No study has assessed the relationship to functioning or pattern of SDMs in first episode psychosis (FEP).

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study involving 71 individuals with FEP and 57 healthy controls who completed an SDM questionnaire. FEP participants completed measures of neurocognition, metacognition (Metacognitive Assessment Interview), functional capacity (The University of California, San Diego [UCSD] Performance-Based Skills Assessment), and functional outcome (Time-Use Survey).

RESULTS

SDMs reported by individuals with FEP were less integrated compared to healthy controls. Within the FEP sample, holding less specific memories was associated with engagement in significantly fewer hours of structured activity per week and specificity of SDMs mediated the relationship between neurocognition and functional outcome, independent of metacognition.

CONCLUSION

This is the first study to assess SDMs in FEP and to explore the important role of SDMs on clinical outcomes, compared to healthy controls. This study suggests that elaborating on specific SDMs is a valid therapeutic target and may be considered a tool to improve daily functioning in FEP.

Measuring adherence in social recovery therapy with people with first episode psychosis

BACKGROUND

The SUPEREDEN3 study, a phase II randomized controlled trial, suggests that social recovery therapy (SRT) is useful in improving functional outcomes in people with first episode psychosis. SRT incorporates cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques with case management and employment support, and therefore has a different emphasis to traditional CBT for psychosis, requiring a new adherence tool.

AIMS

This paper describes the SRT adherence checklist and content of the therapy delivered in the SUPEREDEN3 trial, outlining the frequency of SRT techniques and proportion of participants who received a full therapy dose. It was hypothesized that behavioural techniques would be used frequently, consistent with the behavioural emphasis of SRT.

METHOD

Research therapists completed an adherence checklist after each therapy session, endorsing elements of SRT present. Data from 1236 therapy sessions were reviewed to determine whether participants received full, partial or no therapy dose.

RESULTS

Of the 75 participants randomized to receive SRT, 57.3% received a full dose, 24% a partial dose, and 18.7% received no dose. Behavioural techniques were endorsed in 50.5% of sessions, with cognitive techniques endorsed in 34.9% of sessions.

CONCLUSIONS

This report describes an adherence checklist which should be used when delivering SRT in both research and clinical practice. As hypothesized, behavioural techniques were a prominent feature of the SRT delivered in SUPEREDEN3, consistent with the behavioural emphasis of the approach. The use of this adherence tool would be considered essential for anyone delivering SRT looking to ensure adherence to the model.

The challenge of well-being and quality of life: A meta-analysis of psychological interventions in schizophrenia

Well-being is a critical outcome in the recovery from psychosis and the prevention of symptoms. Previous reviews of the effectiveness of psychological interventions have focused on psychotic symptoms and general psychopathology, not recognising well-being as an essential outcome. This study conducted a meta-analysis of the effects of psychological interventions on the well-being and quality of life (QoL) of people with schizophrenia and analysed some critical moderating factors. A systematic literature search was conducted yielding 12986 published reports, 2043 of which were clinical trials. After a detailed review, 36 articles were included in the analyses. Measures of related concepts, well-being and quality of life were included in the present meta-analysis to reflect the current state of the literature and to ensure the representativeness of RCTs that have evaluated the effect of psychological interventions on the extent to which people with schizophrenia experience a good life. Our findings reflect a significant, small, treatment effect on the outcomes of well-being. Subgroup analysis also suggested a significant moderating effect when the primary aim of the intervention was well-being. These findings suggest that symptom or functional improvement does not necessarily lead to an improvement in well-being and would imply the need to focus specifically on those. We recommend psychological interventions that target well-being as a complementary strategy in mental health promotion and treatment. In addition, we stress the need to include well-being outcome measure in RCT as well as to clearly identify the different domains of well-being being measured.

Cognitive and metacognitive factors predict engagement in employment in individuals with first episode psychosis

Background

Research has demonstrated that cognitive abilities predict work outcomes in people with psychosis. Cognitive Remediation Programs go some way in improving work outcomes, but individuals still experience difficulty maintaining employment. Metacognition has been demonstrated to predict work performance in individuals with schizophrenia, but this has not yet been applied to First Episode Psychosis (FEP). This study assessed whether metacognition, intellectual aptitude and functional capacity can predict engagement in work and number of hours of work within FEP.

Methods

Fifty-two individuals with psychosis, from an Early Intervention in Psychosis service, completed measures of IQ, metacognition (Metacognitive Assessment Interview), functional capacity (UPSA), and functional outcome (hours spent in structured activity per week, including employment).

Results

Twenty-six participants (22 males, 4 females) were employed and twenty-six (22 males, 4 females) were not employed. IQ and metacognition were significantly associated with whether the individual was engaged in employment [IQ (p = .02) and metacognition (p = 006)]. When controlling for IQ, metacognition (differentiation subscale) remained significant (p = .04). Next, including only those employed, no cognitive nor metacognitive factors predicted number of hours in employment.

Discussion

This is the first study to directly assess metacognition as a predictor of work hours for individuals with FEP. This study highlights the importance of enhancing metacognitive ability in order to improve likelihood of, and engagement in, employment for those with FEP.

Vulnerability to psychosocial disability in psychosis

Psychosocial disability affects a number of individuals with psychosis and often begins years before the formal onset of disorder. This suggests that for many, their psychosocial disability is enduring, and targeted interventions are therefore needed earlier in their developmental trajectories to ensure that psychosocial disability does not become entrenched. Poor psychosocial functioning also affects individuals with a range of different emerging mental health problems, putting these young people at risk of long-term social marginalisation and economic disadvantage; all of which are known risk factors for the development of psychosis. Identification of the markers of poor psychosocial functioning will help to inform effective treatments. This editorial will discern the early trajectories and markers of poor psychosocial outcome in psychosis, and highlight which individuals are most at risk of having a poor outcome. This editorial will also discuss whether early interventions are currently being targeted appropriately and will propose how intervention and preventative strategies can be implemented, to restore psychosocial trajectories in a way that enables young people to maximise their life chances.

Predictors of treatment response to psychological interventions in people at clinical high risk of first-episode psychosis

AIM

Psychological interventions, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and supportive counselling (SC), are used to treat people with schizophrenia and people at clinical high risk (CHR) of psychosis. However, little information is available on predictors of treatment response. This study aims to identify such predictors of psychological interventions in CHR.

METHODS

A total of 128 help-seeking CHR outpatients were randomized into two groups-integrated psychological intervention (IPI), including CBT, and SC-for 12 months. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify demographic, symptomatic and functional variables that predict improvement in positive (PANSS Positive), negative (PANSS Negative) and basic symptoms (Basic symptom total score) and improvement in functioning (GAF) at 1-year follow up.

RESULTS

In the merged group (IPI + SC), people who lived independently, were younger and presented with higher baseline functioning showed more improvement in symptomatic outcomes at follow up. Negative symptoms at baseline predicted less improvement in positive and basic symptoms. Being married or cohabiting and living in the primary family were found to correlate with good functioning at 1-year follow up.

CONCLUSIONS

Younger CHR individuals and those who are functioning well may particularly benefit from early intervention. Treatment might need to be modified for low-functioning CHR and those who already display higher scores of negative symptoms. Registration number: NCT00204087.

Three-Year Follow-Up Study Exploring Metacognition and Function in Individuals With First Episode Psychosis

Introduction: Research has demonstrated that functional outcome in psychosis is predicted by factors such as neurocognition, functional capacity, symptoms and, more recently, metacognition. Metacognitive ability has been demonstrated to mediate between neurocognition and functional outcome in First Episode Psychosis (FEP). Whether metacognition also predicts longer-term recovery in first episode psychosis is unknown. This study assessed whether neurocognition, functional capacity and metacognitive ability in FEP predicted functional outcome three years later. Methods: Eighty individuals with First Episode Psychosis were re-contacted after an average 3 years (range: 26-45 month follow-up) from baseline. Twenty-six participants (33%) completed completed measures of neurocognition, metacognition, functional capacity, functional outcome (hours spent in structured activity per week) and psychopathology at baseline and at follow-up. Results: Individual regression analyses demonstrated neurocognition, functional capacity, and metacognitive ability at baseline significantly predicted functional outcome at three years. However, when baseline functional outcome was controlled, only metacognitive ability was a significant predictor of change in functional outcome from baseline to follow-up, p < 0.001. This model explained 72% (adjusted r ² = 0.69) of the variance in functional outcome at follow-up. Negative symptoms did not change the model. Discussion: This study demonstrated that better metacognitive ability significantly predicted improvement in functioning in FEP across a 3-year period. This highlights the potential value of clinical interventions that focus on improving metacognitive ability at first point of illness to maximize recovery.

Social Recovery Therapy in improving activity and social outcomes in early psychosis: Current evidence and longer term outcomes

BACKGROUND

Social Recovery Therapy (SRT) is a cognitive behavioural therapy which targets young people with early psychosis who have complex problems associated with severe social disability. This paper provides a narrative overview of current evidence for SRT and reports new data on a 2year follow-up of participants recruited into the Improving Social Recovery in Early Psychosis (ISREP) trial.

METHOD

In the ISREP study 50 participants (86%) were followed up at 2years, 15months post treatment. The primary outcome was engagement in paid work, assessed using the Time Use Survey. Engagement in education and voluntary work were also assessed. In addition, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scales (PANSS) and the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) were administered.

RESULTS

25% of individuals with non-affective psychosis in the treatment group had engaged in paid work at some point in the year following the end of therapy, compared with none of the control group. Data from the PANSS and BHS suggested no worsening of symptoms and an indication that gains in hope were maintained over the 15month period following the end of therapy.

CONCLUSION

Social Recovery Therapy is a promising psychological intervention which may improve social recovery in individuals with early psychosis. The new data reported in this paper shows evidence of gains in engagement in paid employment outcomes that persisted 15months beyond the period of active intervention.

Cognitive behavioural therapy plus standard care versus standard care for people with schizophrenia

BACKGROUND

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a psychosocial treatment that aims to re-mediate distressing emotional experiences or dysfunctional behaviour by changing the way in which a person interprets and evaluates the experience or cognates on its consequence and meaning. This approach helps to link the person's feelings and patterns of thinking which underpin distress. CBT is now recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as an add-on treatment for people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. This review is also part of a family of Cochrane CBT reviews for people with schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the effects of cognitive behavioural therapy added to standard care compared with standard care alone for people with schizophrenia.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Trials Register (up to March 6, 2017). This register is compiled by systematic searches of major resources (including AMED, BIOSIS CINAHL, Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, and registries of clinical trials) and their monthly updates, handsearches, grey literature, and conference proceedings, with no language, date, document type, or publication status limitations for inclusion of records into the register.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We selected all randomised controlled clinical trials (RCTs) involving people diagnosed with schizophrenia or related disorders, which compared adding CBT to standard care with standard care given alone. Outcomes of interest included relapse, rehospitalisation, mental state, adverse events, social functioning, quality of life, and satisfaction with treatment.We included studies fulfilling the predefined inclusion criteria and reporting useable data.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

We complied with the Cochrane recommended standard of conduct for data screening and collection. Where possible, we calculated relative risk (RR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) for binary data and mean difference (MD) and its 95% confidence interval for continuous data. We assessed risk of bias for included studies and created a 'Summary of findings' table using GRADE.

MAIN RESULTS

This review now includes 60 trials with 5,992 participants, all comparing CBT added to standard care with standard care alone. Results for the main outcomes of interest (all long term) showed no clear difference between CBT and standard care for relapse (RR 0.78, 95% CI 0.61 to 1.00; participants = 1538; studies = 13, low-quality evidence). Two trials reported global state improvement. More participants in the CBT groups showed clinically important improvement in global state (RR 0.57, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.84; participants = 82; studies = 2 , very low-quality evidence). Five trials reported mental state improvement. No differences in mental state improvement were observed (RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.65 to 1.02; participants = 501; studies = 5, very low-quality evidence). In terms of safety, adding CBT to standard care may reduce the risk of having an adverse event (RR 0.44, 95% CI 0.27 to 0.72; participants = 146; studies = 2, very low-quality evidence) but appears to have no effect on long-term social functioning (MD 0.56, 95% CI -2.64 to 3.76; participants = 295; studies = 2, very low-quality evidence, nor on long-term quality of life (MD -3.60, 95% CI -11.32 to 4.12; participants = 71; study = 1, very low-quality evidence). It also has no effect on long-term satisfaction with treatment (measured as 'leaving the study early') (RR 0.93, 95% CI 0.77 to 1.12; participants = 1945; studies = 19, moderate-quality evidence).

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Relative to standard care alone, adding CBT to standard care appears to have no effect on long-term risk of relapse. A very small proportion of the available evidence indicated CBT plus standard care may improve long term global state and may reduce the risk of adverse events. Whether adding CBT to standard care leads to clinically important improvement in patients' long-term mental state, quality of life, and social function remains unclear. Satisfaction with care (measured as number of people leaving the study early) was no higher for participants receiving CBT compared to participants receiving standard care. It should be noted that although much research has been carried out in this area, the quality of evidence available is poor - mostly low or very low quality and we still cannot make firm conclusions until more high quality data are available.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for schizophrenia - outcomes for functioning, distress and quality of life: a meta-analysis

Background

The effect of cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp) on the core symptoms of schizophrenia has proven contentious, with current meta-analyses finding at most only small effects. However, it has been suggested that the effects of CBTp in areas other than psychotic symptoms are at least as important and potentially benefit from the intervention.

Method

We meta-analysed RCTs investigating the effectiveness of CBTp for functioning, distress and quality of life in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and related disorders. Data from 36 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) met our inclusion criteria- 27 assessing functioning (1579 participants); 8 for distress (465 participants); and 10 for quality of life (592 participants).

Results

The pooled effect size for functioning was small but significant for the end-of-trial (0.25: 95% CI: 0.14 to 0.33); however, this became non-significant at follow-up (0.10 [95%CI -0.07 to 0.26]). Although a small benefit of CBT was evident for reducing distress (0.37: 95%CI 0.05 to 0.69), this became nonsignificant when adjusted for possible publication bias (0.18: 95%CI -0.12 to 0.48). Finally, CBTp showed no benefit for improving quality of life (0.04: 95% CI: -0.12 to 0.19).

Conclusions

CBTp has a small therapeutic effect on functioning at end-of-trial, although this benefit is not evident at follow-up. Although CBTp produced a small benefit on distress, this was subject to possible publication bias and became nonsignificant when adjusted. We found no evidence that CBTp increases quality of life post-intervention.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s40359-018-0243-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Improving implementation of evidence based practice for people with psychosis through training the wider workforce: Results of the GOALS feasibility randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

There is a pressing need to improve access to evidence-based practice for people with psychosis. The primary aim of this study was to assess clinical feasibility of a manualised, evidence-based CBT intervention (GOALS) targeting a personalised recovery goal, delivered by the frontline workforce, following brief training. Secondly, we aimed to conduct preliminary statistical analyses of key outcomes and costs.

METHODS

The GOALS study is a feasibility randomised controlled trial (ISRCTN 73188383). 75 participants with current psychosis were recruited and randomly allocated to receive either treatment as usual alone or with GOALS therapy.

RESULTS

Brief training enabled frontline staff to deliver the therapy according to protocol and 74% of therapy participants partially or fully achieved their goals. There were significant improvements with a moderate effect size of 0.56 on goal attainment. However, preliminary statistical analyses found no significant differences between groups on our primary outcome of activity levels or other secondary outcomes Health economic analysis found that point estimates of costs, controlling for baseline costs, implied savings (even including intervention costs), but the difference was not statistically significant.

LIMITATIONS

The study was designed as a feasibility RCT, and therefore the results of secondary estimates of efficacy effects should be treated with caution.

CONCLUSIONS

This approach holds promise in supporting people with psychosis to reach personal recovery goals, cost effectively.

Delineating the trajectories of social and occupational functioning of young people attending early intervention mental health services in Australia: a longitudinal study

OBJECTIVES

Mental disorders typically emerge during adolescence and young adulthood and put young people at risk for prolonged socioeconomic difficulties. This study describes the longitudinal course of social and occupational functioning of young people attending primary care-based, early intervention services.

DESIGN

A longitudinal study of young people receiving mental healthcare.

SETTING

Data were collected between January 2005 and August 2017 from a designated primary care-based mental health service.

PARTICIPANTS

554 young people (54% women) aged 12-32 years.

MEASURES

A systematic medical file audit collected clinical and functional information at predetermined time intervals (ie, 3 months to 5+ years) using a clinical pro forma. Group-based trajectory modelling (GBTM) was used to identify distinct trajectories of social and occupational functioning over time (median number of observations per person=4; median follow-up time=23 months).

RESULTS

Between first clinical contact and time last seen, 15% of young people had reliably deteriorated, 23% improved and 62% did not demonstrate substantive change in function. Of the whole cohort, 69% had functional scores less than 70 at time last seen, indicative of ongoing and substantive impairment. GBTM identified six distinct functional trajectories whereby over 60% had moderate-to-serious functional impairment at entry and remained chronically impaired over time; 7% entered with serious impairment and deteriorated further; a quarter were mildly impaired at entry and functionally recovered and only a small minority (4%) presented with serious impairments and functionally improved over time. Not being in education, employment or training, previous hospitalisation and a younger age at baseline emerged as significant predictors of these functional trajectories.

CONCLUSION

Young people with emerging mental disorders have significant functional impairment at presentation for care, and for the majority, it persists over the course of clinical care. In addition to providing clinical care earlier in the course of illness, these data suggest that more sophisticated and more intensive individual-level and organisational strategies may be required to achieve significant and sustained functional improvements.

Social recovery therapy in combination with early intervention services for enhancement of social recovery in patients with first-episode psychosis (SUPEREDEN3): a single-blind, randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Provision of early intervention services has increased the rate of social recovery in patients with first-episode psychosis; however, many individuals have continuing severe and persistent problems with social functioning. We aimed to assess the efficacy of early intervention services augmented with social recovery therapy in patients with first-episode psychosis. The primary hypothesis was that social recovery therapy plus early intervention services would lead to improvements in social recovery.

METHODS

We did this single-blind, phase 2, randomised controlled trial (SUPEREDEN3) at four specialist early intervention services in the UK. We included participants who were aged 16-35 years, had non-affective psychosis, had been clients of early intervention services for 12-30 months, and had persistent and severe social disability, defined as engagement in less than 30 h per week of structured activity. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1), via computer-generated randomisation with permuted blocks (sizes of four to six), to receive social recovery therapy plus early intervention services or early intervention services alone. Randomisation was stratified by sex and recruitment centre (Norfolk, Birmingham, Lancashire, and Sussex). By necessity, participants were not masked to group allocation, but allocation was concealed from outcome assessors. The primary outcome was time spent in structured activity at 9 months, as measured by the Time Use Survey. Analysis was by intention to treat. This trial is registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN61621571.

FINDINGS

Between Oct 1, 2012, and June 20, 2014, we randomly assigned 155 participants to receive social recovery therapy plus early intervention services (n=76) or early intervention services alone (n=79); the intention-to-treat population comprised 154 patients. At 9 months, 143 (93%) participants had data for the primary outcome. Social recovery therapy plus early intervention services was associated with an increase in structured activity of 8·1 h (95% CI 2·5-13·6; p=0·0050) compared with early intervention services alone. No adverse events were deemed attributable to study therapy.

INTERPRETATION

Our findings show a clinically important benefit of enhanced social recovery on structured activity in patients with first-episode psychosis who received social recovery therapy plus early intervention services. Social recovery therapy might be useful in improving functional outcomes in people with first-episode psychosis, particularly in individuals not motivated to engage in existing psychosocial interventions targeting functioning, or who have comorbid difficulties preventing them from doing so.

FUNDING

National Institute for Health Research.

Interventions for obtaining and maintaining employment in adults with severe mental illness, a network meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

People with severe mental illness show high rates of unemployment and work disability, however, they often have a desire to participate in employment. People with severe mental illness used to be placed in sheltered employment or were enrolled in prevocational training to facilitate transition to a competitive job. Now, there are also interventions focusing on rapid search for a competitive job, with ongoing support to keep the job, known as supported employment. Recently, there has been a growing interest in combining supported employment with other prevocational or psychiatric interventions.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the comparative effectiveness of various types of vocational rehabilitation interventions and to rank these interventions according to their effectiveness to facilitate competitive employment in adults with severe mental illness.

SEARCH METHODS

In November 2016 we searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, PsychINFO, and CINAHL, and reference lists of articles for randomised controlled trials and systematic reviews. We identified systematic reviews from which to extract randomised controlled trials.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included randomised controlled trials and cluster-randomised controlled trials evaluating the effect of interventions on obtaining competitive employment for adults with severe mental illness. We included trials with competitive employment outcomes. The main intervention groups were prevocational training programmes, transitional employment interventions, supported employment, supported employment augmented with other specific interventions, and psychiatric care only.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two authors independently identified trials, performed data extraction, including adverse events, and assessed trial quality. We performed direct meta-analyses and a network meta-analysis including measurements of the surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA). We assessed the quality of the evidence for outcomes within the network meta-analysis according to GRADE.

MAIN RESULTS

We included 48 randomised controlled trials involving 8743 participants. Of these, 30 studied supported employment, 13 augmented supported employment, 17 prevocational training, and 6 transitional employment. Psychiatric care only was the control condition in 13 studies. Direct comparison meta-analysis of obtaining competitive employmentWe could include 18 trials with short-term follow-up in a direct meta-analysis (N = 2291) of the following comparisons. Supported employment was more effective than prevocational training (RR 2.52, 95% CI 1.21 to 5.24) and transitional employment (RR 3.49, 95% CI 1.77 to 6.89) and prevocational training was more effective than psychiatric care only (RR 8.96, 95% CI 1.77 to 45.51) in obtaining competitive employment.For the long-term follow-up direct meta-analysis, we could include 22 trials (N = 5233). Augmented supported employment (RR 4.32, 95% CI 1.49 to 12.48), supported employment (RR 1.51, 95% CI 1.36 to 1.68) and prevocational training (RR 2.19, 95% CI 1.07 to 4.46) were more effective than psychiatric care only. Augmented supported employment was more effective than supported employment (RR 1.94, 95% CI 1.03 to 3.65), transitional employment (RR 2.45, 95% CI 1.69 to 3.55) and prevocational training (RR 5.42, 95% CI 1.08 to 27.11). Supported employment was more effective than transitional employment (RR 3.28, 95% CI 2.13 to 5.04) and prevocational training (RR 2.31, 95% CI 1.85 to 2.89). Network meta-analysis of obtaining competitive employmentWe could include 22 trials with long-term follow-up in a network meta-analysis.Augmented supported employment was the most effective intervention versus psychiatric care only in obtaining competitive employment (RR 3.81, 95% CI 1.99 to 7.31, SUCRA 98.5, moderate-quality evidence), followed by supported employment (RR 2.72 95% CI 1.55 to 4.76; SUCRA 76.5, low-quality evidence).Prevocational training (RR 1.26, 95% CI 0.73 to 2.19; SUCRA 40.3, very low-quality evidence) and transitional employment were not considerably different from psychiatric care only (RR 1.00,95% CI 0.51 to 1.96; SUCRA 17.2, low-quality evidence) in achieving competitive employment, but prevocational training stood out in the SUCRA value and rank.Augmented supported employment was slightly better than supported employment, but not significantly (RR 1.40, 95% CI 0.92 to 2.14). The SUCRA value and mean rank were higher for augmented supported employment.The results of the network meta-analysis of the intervention subgroups favoured augmented supported employment interventions, but also cognitive training. However, supported employment augmented with symptom-related skills training showed the best results (RR compared to psychiatric care only 3.61 with 95% CI 1.03 to 12.63, SUCRA 80.3).We graded the quality of the evidence of the network ranking as very low because of potential risk of bias in the included studies, inconsistency and publication bias. Direct meta-analysis of maintaining competitive employment Based on the direct meta-analysis of the short-term follow-up of maintaining employment, supported employment was more effective than: psychiatric care only, transitional employment, prevocational training, and augmented supported employment.In the long-term follow-up direct meta-analysis, augmented supported employment was more effective than prevocational training (MD 22.79 weeks, 95% CI 15.96 to 29.62) and supported employment (MD 10.09, 95% CI 0.32 to 19.85) in maintaining competitive employment. Participants receiving supported employment worked more weeks than those receiving transitional employment (MD 17.36, 95% CI 11.53 to 23.18) or prevocational training (MD 11.56, 95% CI 5.99 to 17.13).We did not find differences between interventions in the risk of dropouts or hospital admissions.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Supported employment and augmented supported employment were the most effective interventions for people with severe mental illness in terms of obtaining and maintaining employment, based on both the direct comparison analysis and the network meta-analysis, without increasing the risk of adverse events. These results are based on moderate- to low-quality evidence, meaning that future studies with lower risk of bias could change these results. Augmented supported employment may be slightly more effective compared to supported employment alone. However, this difference was small, based on the direct comparison analysis, and further decreased with the network meta-analysis meaning that this difference should be interpreted cautiously. More studies on maintaining competitive employment are needed to get a better understanding of whether the costs and efforts are worthwhile in the long term for both the individual and society.

Youth mental ill health and secondary school completion in Australia: time to act

AIM

This paper reviews the evidence of youth mental ill health and its impact on secondary school educational attainment.

METHODS

This narrative review presents the current research related to the mental ill health of young people in urban and rural Australia, their educational attainment and the effectiveness of mental health strategies implemented in secondary schools.

RESULTS

The prevalence of mental ill health is high for Australian young people and the onset of depression, anxiety, substance-use disorders and first episode psychosis (FEP) commonly occurs when the individual is at school. The prevalence is reported to be higher for rural young people and barriers to treatment exist. Current evidence suggests that 40% of young people experiencing depression or anxiety disorders are not completing secondary school. Further evidence shows that over 50% of individuals who experience FEP do not finish secondary school. Current mental health promotion strategies employed in secondary schools have not been shown to reduce rates of depression or anxiety in adolescence nor identify prodromal or acute FEP. These strategies have not led to interventions that assist young people with mental ill health to finish school.

CONCLUSIONS

Not completing secondary school can limit employment options, lead to severe levels of disadvantage and increased burden on welfare and healthcare systems. All young people, including those in rural areas, have the right to education and should not be disadvantaged in their educational aspirations because they have an emerging or current mental illness.

Prevention and treatment of long-term social disability amongst young people with emerging severe mental illness with social recovery therapy (The PRODIGY Trial): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Young people who have social disability associated with severe and complex mental health problems are an important group in need of early intervention. Their problems often date back to childhood and become chronic at an early age. Without intervention, the long-term prognosis is often poor and the economic costs very large. There is a major gap in the provision of evidence-based interventions for this group, and therefore new approaches to detection and intervention are needed. This trial provides a definitive evaluation of a new approach to early intervention with young people with social disability and severe and complex mental health problems using social recovery therapy (SRT) over a period of 9 months to improve mental health and social recovery outcomes.

METHODS

This is a pragmatic, multi-centre, single blind, superiority randomised controlled trial. It is conducted in three sites in the UK: Sussex, Manchester and East Anglia. Participants are aged 16 to 25 and have both persistent and severe social disability (defined as engaged in less than 30 hours per week of structured activity) and severe and complex mental health problems. The target sample size is 270 participants, providing 135 participants in each trial arm. Participants are randomised 1:1 using a web-based randomisation system and allocated to either SRT plus optimised treatment as usual (enhanced standard care) or enhanced standard care alone. The primary outcome is time use, namely hours spent in structured activity per week at 15 months post-randomisation. Secondary outcomes assess typical mental health problems of the group, including subthreshold psychotic symptoms, negative symptoms, depression and anxiety. Time use, secondary outcomes and health economic measures are assessed at 9, 15 and 24 months post-randomisation.

DISCUSSION

This definitive trial will be the first to evaluate a novel psychological treatment for social disability and mental health problems in young people presenting with social disability and severe and complex non-psychotic mental health problems. The results will have important implications for policy and practice in the detection and early intervention for this group in mental health services.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Trial Registry: International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN) Registry.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ISRCTN47998710 (registered 29/11/2012).

A parallel group randomised open blinded evaluation of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for depression after psychosis: Pilot trial outcomes (ADAPT)

BACKGROUND

Depression is one of the major contributors to poorer quality of life amongst individuals with psychosis and schizophrenia. The study was designed as a Pilot Trial to determine the parameters of a larger, definitive pragmatic multi-centre randomised controlled trial of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for depression after psychosis (ACTdp) for individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia who also meet diagnostic criteria for major depression.

METHODS

Participants were required to meet criteria for schizophrenia and major depression. Blinded follow-ups were undertaken at 5-months (end of treatment) and at 10-months (5-months posttreatment). Primary outcomes were depression as measured by the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).

RESULTS

A total of 29 participants were randomised to ACTdp + Standard Care (SC) (n=15) or SC alone (n=14). We did not observe significant differences between groups on the CDSS total score at 5-months (Coeff=-1.43, 95%CI -5.17, 2.32, p=0.45) or at 10-months (Coeff=1.8, 95%CI -2.10, 5.69, p=0.36). In terms of BDI, we noted a statistically significant effect in favour of ACTdp+SC at 5-months (Coeff=-8.38, 95%CI -15.49, -1.27, p=0.02) but not at 10-months (Coeff=-4.85, 95%CI -12.10, 2.39, p=0.18). We also observed significant effects on psychological flexibility at 5-months (Coeff=-8.83, 95%CI -14.94, -2.71, p<0.01) but not 10-months (Coeff=-4.92, 95%CI -11.09, 1.25, p=0.11).

IMPLICATIONS

In this first RCT of a psychological therapy with depression as the primary outcome, ACT is a promising intervention for depression in the context of psychosis. A further large-scale definitive randomised controlled trial is required to determine effectiveness.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ISRCTN: 33306437.

A question of time: A study of time use in people with schizophrenia

BACKGROUND

Loss of functioning is a core feature associated with the diagnosis of schizophrenia. Several measures are used to asses this domain including activity measures assessing time use which has been demonstrated to be a valuable indicator of recovery. However there is limited information on the magnitude and the domains where time use may differ between people with schizophrenia and the general population.

METHOD

One hundred and seventy people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and 1124 people from the general population were assessed and compared on the Time Use Survey. This estimates the time spent in everyday activities in ten domains. The influence of symptom severity and clinical variables on time-use was examined in people with schizophrenia.

RESULTS

People with schizophrenia spent less time in functional but also in social and leisure activities and more time resting and "doing nothing" compared to the general population. When compared with unemployed individuals and people with a physical disability, people with schizophrenia spent comparable time in functional activities but significantly less in leisure, socialising activities and travelling. Negative symptom severity was associated with time spent in passive activities and negatively influenced time in social and leisure activities.

CONCLUSIONS

Alongside significant effects on functional economic activities schizophrenia has also a profound impact on activities that make life enjoyable. Mapping time use will be a useful additional tool to assess progress towards recovery.

Disability and recovery in schizophrenia: a systematic review of cognitive behavioral therapy interventions

BACKGROUND

Schizophrenia is a disabling disease that impacts all major life areas. There is a growing need for meeting the challenge of disability from a perspective that extends symptomatic reduction. Therefore, this study aimed to systematically review the extent to which traditional and "third wave" cognitive - behavioral (CBT) interventions address the whole scope of disabilities experienced by people with lived experience of schizophrenia using the WHO's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a frame of reference. It also explores if current CBT interventions focus on recovery and what is their impact on disability domains.

METHODS

Medline and PsycINFO databases were searched for studies published in English between January 2009 and December 2015. Abstracts and full papers were screened against pre-defined selection criteria by two reviewers. Methodological quality of included studies was assessed by two independent raters using the Effective Public Health Practice Project Quality assessment tool for quantitative studies (EPHPP) guidelines.

RESULTS

A total of 50 studies were included, 35 studies evaluating traditional CBT interventions and 15 evaluating "third wave" approaches. Overall, traditional CBT interventions addressed more disability domains than "third wave" approaches and mostly focused on mental functions reflecting schizophrenia psychopathology. Seven studies met the inclusion criteria of recovery-oriented interventions. The majority of studies evaluating these interventions had however a high risk of bias, therefore evidence on their effectiveness is inconclusive.

CONCLUSIONS

Traditional CBT interventions address more disability domains than "third wave" therapies, however both approaches focus mostly on mental functions that reflect schizophrenia psychopathology. There are also few interventions that focus on recovery. These results indicate that CBT interventions going beyond symptom reduction are still needed. Recovery-focused CBT interventions seem to be a promising treatment approach as they target disability from a broader perspective including activity and participation domains. Although their effectiveness is inconclusive, they reflect users' views of recovery and trends towards improvement of mood, negative symptoms and functioning are shown.

The course of negative symptom in first episode psychosis and the relationship with social recovery

AIMS

To investigate trajectories of negative symptoms during the first 12months of treatment for first episode psychosis (FEP), their predictors and relationship to social recovery.

METHOD

1006 participants were followed up for 12months following acceptance into Early Intervention in Psychosis services. Negative symptom trajectories were modelled using latent class growth analysis (LCGA) and predictors of trajectories examined using multinomial regression. Social recovery trajectories - also modelled using LCGA - of members of each negative symptom trajectory were ascertained and the relationship between negative symptom and social recovery trajectories examined.

RESULTS

Four negative symptom trajectories were identified: Minimal Decreasing (63.9%), Mild Stable (13.5%), High Decreasing (17.1%) and High Stable (5.4%). Male gender and family history of non-affective psychosis predicted stably high negative symptoms. Poor premorbid adolescent adjustment, family history of non-affective psychosis and baseline depression predicted initially high but decreasing negative symptoms. Members of the Mild Stable, High Stable and High Decreasing classes were more likely to experience stably low functioning than the Minimal Decreasing class.

CONCLUSIONS

Distinct negative symptom trajectories are evident in FEP. Only a small subgroup present with persistently high levels of negative symptoms. A substantial proportion of FEP patients with elevated negative symptoms at baseline will achieve remission of these symptoms within 12months. However, elevated negative symptoms at baseline, whether or not they remit, are associated with poor social recovery, suggesting targeted interventions for service users with elevated baseline negative symptoms may help improve functional outcomes.

Metacognitive training for young subjects (MCT young version) in the early stages of psychosis: Is the duration of untreated psychosis a limiting factor?

OBJECTIVES

The treatment program 'Metacognitive training for patients with schizophrenia' (MCT) addresses cognitive biases assumed to play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of delusions (e.g., jumping to conclusions, theory of mind deficits). The aim of our study was to examine the effectiveness and the feasibility of this intervention targeted to early phases of psychosis (MCT young version).

DESIGN

An experimental design included two groups of subjects on the basis of their duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) 'short' (less or equal than 12 months) and 'long' DUP (longer than 12 months), assessed at baseline and after the 4-month intervention.

METHODS

Fifty-six young subjects affected by early psychosis were assessed on psychopathology, social functioning, neurocognitive, and metacognitive measures. The primary outcome was the reduction of psychopathology. Secondary outcomes included reduction of cognitive and emotional dysfunction and improvement of social functioning.

RESULTS

At the end of the 4-month MCT, both groups showed significant improvements in many variables: positive symptoms, cognitive functions, as verbal memory, attention and mental flexibility, and metacognitive functions, as cognitive insight. Significant and positive changes were found in theory of mind abilities and social perception.

CONCLUSIONS

The difference in DUP between the two groups of young subjects of our sample did not seem to influence the intervention outcomes, still taking into account that the average difference between the two groups in terms of DUP is 12.6 months.

PRACTITIONER POINTS

Metacognition refers to the general ability 'to think about thinking,' that is, the ability to think about one's mental state and the mental states of others. Persons with schizophrenia experience different metacognitive impairments. The metacognitive training for patients with schizophrenia - young version can be applied to young people affected by psychosis and seems to improve symptomatology, social functioning, cognitive, and metacognitive abilities, independently by their Duration of Untreated Psychosis over a 2-year period.

From the rhetoric to the real: A critical review of how the concepts of recovery and social inclusion may inform mental health nurse advanced level curricula - The eMenthe project

OBJECTIVES

This critical review addresses the question of how the concepts of recovery and social inclusion may inform mental health nurse education curricula at Master's level in order to bring about significant and positive change to practice.

DESIGN

This is a literature-based critical review incorporating a rapid review. It has been said that if done well, this approach can be highly relevant to health care studies and social interventions, and has substantial claims to be as rigorous and enlightening as other, more conventional approaches to literature (Rolfe, 2008).

DATA SOURCES

In this review, we have accessed contemporary literature directly related to the concepts of recovery and social inclusion in mental health.

REVIEW METHODS

We have firstly surveyed the international literature directly related to the concepts of recovery and social inclusion in mental health and used the concept of emotional intelligence to help consider educational outcomes in terms of the required knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to promote these values-based approaches in practice.

RESULTS

A number of themes have been identified that lend themselves to educational application. International frameworks exist that provide some basis for the developments of recovery and social inclusion approaches in mental health practice, however the review identifies specific areas for future development.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first article that attempts to scope the knowledge, attitudes and skills required to deliver education for Master's level mental health nurses based upon the principles of recovery and social inclusion. Emotional intelligence theory may help to identify desired outcomes especially in terms of attitudinal development to promote the philosophy of recovery and social inclusive approaches in advanced practice. Whilst recovery is becoming enshrined in policy, there is a need in higher education to ensure that mental health nurse leaders are able to discern the difference between the rhetoric and the reality.

Investigating trajectories of social recovery in individuals with first-episode psychosis: a latent class growth analysis

BACKGROUND

Social disability is a hallmark of severe mental illness yet individual differences and factors predicting outcome are largely unknown.

AIM

To explore trajectories and predictors of social recovery following a first episode of psychosis (FEP).

METHOD

A sample of 764 individuals with FEP were assessed on entry into early intervention in psychosis (EIP) services and followed up over 12 months. Social recovery profiles were examined using latent class growth analysis.

RESULTS

Three types of social recovery profile were identified: Low Stable (66%), Moderate-Increasing (27%), and High-Decreasing (7%). Poor social recovery was predicted by male gender, ethnic minority status, younger age at onset of psychosis, increased negative symptoms, and poor premorbid adjustment.

CONCLUSIONS

Social disability is prevalent in FEP, although distinct recovery profiles are evident. Where social disability is present on entry into EIP services it can remain stable, highlighting a need for targeted intervention.

Employment and educational outcomes in early intervention programmes for early psychosis: a systematic review

AIMS

Young adults with early psychosis want to pursue normal roles - education and employment. This paper summarises the empirical literature on the effectiveness of early intervention programmes for employment and education outcomes.

METHODS

We conducted a systematic review of employment/education outcomes for early intervention programmes, distinguishing three programme types: (1) those providing supported employment, (2) those providing unspecified vocational services and (3) those without vocational services. We summarised findings for 28 studies.

RESULTS

Eleven studies evaluated early intervention programmes providing supported employment. In eight studies that reported employment outcomes separately from education outcomes, the employment rate during follow-up for supported employment patients was 49%, compared with 29% for patients receiving usual services. The two groups did not differ on enrolment in education. In four controlled studies, meta-analysis showed that the employment rate for supported employment participants was significantly higher than for control participants, odds ratio = 3.66 [1.93-6.93], p < 0.0001. Five studies (four descriptive and one quasi-experimental) of early intervention programmes evaluating unspecified vocational services were inconclusive. Twelve studies of early intervention programmes without vocational services were methodologically heterogeneous, using diverse methods for evaluating vocational/educational outcomes and precluding a satisfactory meta-analytic synthesis. Among studies with comparison groups, 7 of 11 (64%) reported significant vocational/education outcomes favouring early intervention over usual services.

CONCLUSIONS

In early intervention programmes, supported employment moderately increases employment rates but not rates of enrolment in education. These improvements are in addition to the modest effects early programmes alone have on vocational/educational outcomes compared with usual services.

Bringing the "self" into focus: conceptualising the role of self-experience for understanding and working with distressing voices

A primary goal of cognitive behavior therapy for psychosis (CBTp) is to reduce distress and disability, not to change the positive symptoms of psychosis, such as hearing voices. Despite demonstrated associations between beliefs about voices and distress, the effects of CBTp on reducing voice distress are disappointing. Research has begun to explore the role that the psychological construct of "self" (which includes numerous facets such as self-reflection, self-schema and self-concept) might play in causing and maintaining distress and disability in voice hearers. However, attempts to clarify and integrate these different perspectives within the voice hearing literature, or to explore their clinical implications, are still in their infancy. This paper outlines how the self has been conceptualised in the psychosis and CBT literatures, followed by a review of the evidence regarding the proposed role of this construct in the etiology of and adaptation to voice hearing experiences. We go on to discuss some of the specific intervention methods that aim to target these aspects of self-experience and end by identifying key research questions in this area. Notably, we suggest that interventions specifically targeting aspects of self-experience, including self-affection, self-reflection, self-schema and self-concept, may be sufficient to reduce distress and disruption in the context of hearing voices, a suggestion that now requires further empirical investigation.

Youth Early-intervention Study (YES) - group interventions targeting social participation and physical well-being as an adjunct to treatment as usual: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background

It is increasingly acknowledged that clinical interventions for young persons with mental disorders need to optimize social, vocational and physical functioning, and take into account developmental needs, rather than focusing only on the traditional target of psychiatric symptom change. However, few interventions for youth presenting to mental health services offer a coherent rationale for multi-faceted approaches that efficiently address all these targets.

This trial uses two facilitated group therapy modules (social and physical activity) as a vehicle for promoting clinical, cognitive, social and vocational change. The modules are an adjunct to usual treatments offered to youth attending mental health services in Sydney, Australia.

Methods/Design

The design is a 2-arm, parallel group cross-over, randomized clinical trial (RCT) that examines the efficacy of this adjunctive youth early intervention program (called “YES”) for improving social, vocational, mental and physical health functioning in a trans-diagnostic sample of 120 young persons aged 14–25 years who are currently receiving a range of “usual treatments” for clinically diagnosed anxiety, affective and/or psychotic disorders.

Individuals who provide written informed consent are offered 2 group therapy modules (each comprising 4 hours per week for 8 weeks) with a 3-week “pause” between modules. Randomization determines whether individuals commence with module A or module B. The sample will be assessed pre-randomization, and at week 1 and week 8 (after completion of the first module), and at week 11 (commencement of second module) and week 19 (completion of second module). Final follow–up is 1-year post trial entry.

Discussion

If the findings of this exploratory trial demonstrate benefits in the target domains, then it will be important to extend the research by undertaking: (a) a comparison of the YES program to a control intervention in a randomized controlled trial, (b) an explanatory study of putative mediators of change, and (c) a multi-center trial with a number of trained therapists offering the group modules combined with a longer follow-up period.

Trial registration

Australian New Zealand Controlled Trial Registration: ACTRN1262400175673, Date: 16 July 2015

An evidence map of psychosocial interventions for the earliest stages of bipolar disorder

Depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder are three of the four most burdensome problems in people aged under 25 years. In psychosis and depression, psychological interventions are effective, low-risk, and high-benefit approaches for patients at high risk of first-episode or early-onset disorders. We review the use of psychological interventions for early-stage bipolar disorder in patients aged 15-25 years. Because previous systematic reviews had struggled to identify information about this emerging sphere of research, we used evidence mapping to help us identify the extent, distribution, and methodological quality of evidence because the gold standard approaches were only slightly informative or appropriate. This strategy identified 29 studies in three target groups: ten studies in populations at high risk for bipolar disorder, five studies in patients with a first episode, and 14 studies in patients with early-onset bipolar disorder. Of the 20 completed studies, eight studies were randomised trials, but only two had sample sizes of more than 100 individuals. The main interventions used were family, cognitive behavioural, and interpersonal therapies. Only behavioural family therapies were tested across all of our three target groups. Although the available interventions were well adapted to the level of maturity and social environment of young people, few interventions target specific developmental psychological or physiological processes (eg, ruminative response style or delayed sleep phase), or offer detailed strategies for the management of substance use or physical health.

Predictors of functional outcome in individuals at high clinical risk for psychosis at six years follow-up

BACKGROUND

The long-term functional status of subjects at ultra high risk for psychosis (HR) is relatively under investigated. This study explores baseline predictors of long-term functional outcome in HR subjects who did not convert to psychosis during a 6 years follow-up period.

METHODS

A total of 154 HR were followed up for an average of 6 years. The primary outcome variable was global assessment of functioning at the last follow-up visit as assessed with the Global Assessment of Functioning tool. A multinomial logistic regression was performed to identify potential predictors of functional outcome.

RESULTS

Baseline and follow-up data on functioning was available for 92 HR. Twenty-four (43%) individuals who did not convert to psychosis reported poor functioning at follow-up. Baseline scores in the GAF (Exp(b) = 0.857; 95% CIs: 0.75/0.97), employment status (Exp(b) = 0.029; 95% CIs: 0.00/0.268), and CAARMS total scores (Exp(b) = 1.976; 95% CIs: 1.00/1.14) predicted functional outcome in HR subjects at 6 years.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the preventive treatments received, many individuals who did not convert to full-blown psychosis in the longer term do not functionally remit. These individuals are lower functioning, unemployed and have higher symptom loading at the time of their presentation to the prodromal clinic. Our study suggests the need for innovative treatments targeting long term functional status beyond the prevention of psychosis onset in the HR population.

Cognitive-behaviour therapy and schizophrenia

People who experience debilitating psychotic symptoms that affect their everyday life are often, but not always, given a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Although the first line of treatment is medication, many people experience a suboptimal response and after the acute symptoms resolve they can continue to experience both hallucinations and delusions. These are generally termed residual symptoms and are the phenomena that cognitive-behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp) was originally devised to target. The success of CBTp in randomised controlled trials from the early 90s and evidence of cost-effectiveness has meant that many healthcare services across the world include CBTp in their treatment armamentaria. For instance, in the UK the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance says that all individuals who have a diagnosis of schizophrenia should be given the option of a course of CBTp. Recently, however, the treatment effects have been re-examined, the targets widened and the premise that CBTp should be solely an adjunct to medication has been questioned. This article will describe and probe some of these changes and reflect on the development of psychological treatments for psychosis.

Comparing time use in individuals at different stages of psychosis and a non-clinical comparison group

Social functioning difficulties are a common and disabling feature of psychosis and have also been identified in the prodromal phase. However, debate exists about how such difficulties should be defined and measured. Time spent in structured activity has previously been linked to increased psychological wellbeing in non-clinical samples and may provide a useful way of assessing social functioning in clinical settings. The current study compared hours in structured activity, assessed with the Time Use Survey, in three clinical groups at different stages of psychosis: individuals with at-risk mental states (N=199), individuals with first-episode psychosis (N=878), and individuals with delayed social recovery following the remission of psychotic symptoms (N=77). Time use in the three clinical groups was also compared with norms from an age-matched non-clinical group (N=5686) recruited for the Office for National Statistics UK 2000 Time Use Survey. Cutoff scores for defining social disability and recovery were examined. All three clinical groups spent significantly fewer hours per week in structured activity than individuals in the non-clinical group. Reduced activity levels were observed before the onset of psychosis in individuals with at-risk mental states. Additional reductions in activity were observed in the first-episode psychosis and delayed recovery groups compared to the at-risk mental state group. Assessing time spent in structured activity provides a useful way to assess social disability and recovery across the spectrum of psychosis.

Recovery-focused cognitive-behavioural therapy for recent-onset bipolar disorder: randomised controlled pilot trial

BACKGROUND

Despite evidence for the effectiveness of structured psychological therapies for bipolar disorder no psychological interventions have been specifically designed to enhance personal recovery for individuals with recent-onset bipolar disorder.

AIMS

A pilot study to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of a new intervention, recovery-focused cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), designed in collaboration with individuals with recent-onset bipolar disorder intended to improve clinical and personal recovery outcomes.

METHOD

A single, blind randomised controlled trial compared treatment as usual (TAU) with recovery-focused CBT plus TAU (n = 67).

RESULTS

Recruitment and follow-up rates within 10% of pre-planned targets to 12-month follow-up were achieved. An average of 14.15 h (s.d. = 4.21) of recovery-focused CBT were attended out of a potential maximum of 18 h. Compared with TAU, recovery-focused CBT significantly improved personal recovery up to 12-month follow-up (Bipolar Recovery Questionnaire mean score 310.87, 95% CI 75.00-546.74 (s.e. = 120.34), P = 0.010, d = 0.62) and increased time to any mood relapse during up to 15 months follow-up (χ2 = 7.64, P<0.006, estimated hazard ratio (HR) = 0.38, 95% CI 0.18-0.78). Groups did not differ with respect to medication adherence.

CONCLUSIONS

Recovery-focused CBT seems promising with respect to feasibility and potential clinical effectiveness. Clinical- and cost-effectiveness now need to be reliably estimated in a definitive trial.