Non-randomised feasibility study of training workshops for Talking Therapies service high-intensity therapists to optimise depression and anxiety outcomes for individuals with co-morbid personality difficulties: a study protocol

BACKGROUND

The NHS Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression programme ('TTad'; formerly Improving Access to Psychological Therapies 'IAPT') delivers high-intensity cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to over 200,000 individuals each year for common mental health problems like depression and anxiety. More than half of these individuals experience comorbid personality difficulties, who show poorer treatment outcomes. TTad therapists report feeling unskilled to work with clients with personality difficulties, and enhancing the training of TTad therapists may lead to improved treatment outcomes for individuals presenting with secondary personality difficulties alongside depression and anxiety.

METHODS

This is a pre-post non-randomised mixed-method feasibility study, exploring the feasibility and acceptability of a 1-day training workshop for high-intensity (HI) CBT therapists. The workshop is focused on understanding and assessing personality difficulties and adapting HICBT treatments for anxiety and depression to accommodate client needs. The feasibility and acceptability of the workshop and the evaluation procedures will be investigated. It will be examined to what extent the workshop provision leads to improvements in therapist skills and confidence and explored to what extent the training has the potential to enhance clinical outcomes for this client group.

DISCUSSION

This feasibility study will provide data on the acceptability and feasibility of delivering brief therapist training to adapt usual HICBT to optimise care for individuals with secondary personality difficulties seeking treatment in TTad services for a primary problem of depression and/or anxiety. The study will also evaluate proof of concept that such an approach has the potential to improve clinical outcomes for those with secondary personality difficulties and report any possible harms identified. The study will inform the design of a future randomised controlled trial designed to test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the training.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ISRCTN81104604 . Submitted on 6th June 2022. Registration date: 3rd January 2023.

Personality difficulties and response to community-based psychological treatment for anxiety and depression

BACKGROUND

Previous research suggests that comorbid personality disorder may be associated with a less favourable treatment outcome for individuals with depression and anxiety disorder. However, little is known about whether personality difficulties are associated with treatment outcomes within Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services-the largest platform for treating depression and anxiety in England, UK. Secondary aims were to investigate i) whether individual personality difficulties are associated with treatment outcome and ii) whether findings are moderated by treatment type.

METHODS

The sample included 3,689 adults who accessed community-based psychological treatment (cognitive behavioural therapy, emotional skills training, or other psychological therapy) for depression and/or anxiety disorder. Associations between personality difficulties (assessed with the Standardised Assessment of Personality-Abbreviated Scale (SAPAS)) and treatment outcomes (recovery and reliable improvement in depression/anxiety symptom scores, assessed using questionnaire-based measures) were investigated using logistic/linear regression.

RESULTS

Personality difficulties were associated with a reduced likelihood of recovery (adjusted OR per unit increase on SAPAS: depression=0.87, 95%CI 0.84, 0.91; anxiety=0.86, 95%CI 0.82, 0.90) and reliable improvement (adjusted OR per unit increase on SAPAS: depression=0.88, 95%CI 0.84, 0.92; anxiety=0.85, 95%CI 0.82, 0.89). Those with three or more difficulties were over 30% less likely to recover/reliably improve.

LIMITATIONS

Personality difficulties data were collected via self-report and were not available for all participants.

CONCLUSION

Patients with personality difficulties have a less favourable response to psychological treatment for depression/anxiety disorder. If replicated, the findings highlight a major challenge to the way community-based psychological therapy services in England (IAPT services) are presently constituted.