The questionable efficacy of manualized psychological treatments for distressed breast cancer patients: An individual patient data meta-analysis

Psychodynamic psychotherapy in serious physical illness: A systematic literature review of approaches and techniques for the treatment of existential distress and mental disorders

Individuals with life-limiting physical illness experience lower mental health due to existential distress (e.g., demoralization, death anxiety) and mental disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety). Psychodynamic psychotherapy may be helpful in alleviating such distress by focusing patients' unconscious emotional and relational motivations. There is yet limited knowledge on the application of psychodynamic psychotherapies in this population. We systematically searched electronic databases and analyzed results using meta-ethnography. Of 15,112 identified records, we included 31 qualitative studies applying psychodynamic psychotherapies (n = 69, mean age: 49.3 [SD = 16.9)], 56% female). Psychodynamic treatment in this population can be beneficial when considering modification of the treatment setting to the illness reality, balancing needs for autonomy and separation in light of helplessness and death anxiety, and careful integration of supportive interventions and conflict-oriented interventions (e.g., exploring relational issues that interfere with mourning illness-related loss). We discuss future directions for the development and evaluation of treatments specific to serious physical illness.

Experience sampling methodology study of anxiety and depression in adolescents with epilepsy: The role of metacognitive beliefs and perseverative thinking

Emotional distress is common in young people with epilepsy (YPwE). According to the Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) model, maladaptive metacognitive beliefs and perseverative thinking are fundamental in the development and maintenance of emotional distress. As emotional distress and perseverative thinking can highly fluctuate over short intervals in YPwE, it is important to account for this variability when testing the utility of psychological models. Experience sampling methodology (ESM) was therefore used to explore the momentary relationship between metacognitive beliefs, perseverative thinking, and emotional distress in YPwE. Eighteen participants diagnosed with epilepsy (aged 12-17 years) completed the 10-day ESM period. Participants were prompted to complete the ESM assessment five times daily. The ESM assessment assessed participant's momentary levels of metacognitive beliefs, perseverative thinking (i.e., worry and rumination), and emotional distress (i.e., anxiety and depression). A series of multilevel regression analyses indicated that metacognitive beliefs were significantly positively associated with worry, rumination, anxiety and depression. After controlling for worry and rumination, respectively, metacognitive beliefs did not account for additional variance in anxiety or depression. Findings provide preliminary support for the utility of the S-REF model for emotional distress in YPwE. Metacognitive therapy, which is underpinned by the S-REF model, may be an appropriate intervention for emotional distress in YPwE. Future studies should assess the mediational relationship between metacognitive beliefs, perseverative thinking, and emotional distress using time-lagged models.

Psychosocial factors associated with anxiety and depression in adolescents with epilepsy: A systematic review

Anxiety and depression are common in adolescents with epilepsy. Identifying psychosocial risk factors for anxiety and depression is essential for adolescents with epilepsy to receive appropriate support. This systematic review synthesised findings of studies examining the relationship between psychosocial factors and anxiety and/or depression in adolescents with epilepsy. Outcomes were anxiety, depression, and mixed anxiety & depression. Six electronic databases were searched for studies which: used cross-sectional or prospective designs; quantitatively evaluated the relationship between psychosocial factors and anxiety and/or depression; presented results for adolescents with epilepsy aged 9-18 years; and used validated measures of anxiety and/or depression. Psychosocial factors were categorised as intrapersonal, interpersonal, or parent-specific factors. Sixteen studies (23 articles) were included. All but one were cross-sectional. Regarding intrapersonal factors, alternative mental health difficulties were consistently positively associated with all three outcomes. Negative attitude towards epilepsy, lower seizure self-efficacy, lower self-esteem and stigma were consistently positively associated with depression. Interpersonal factors (i.e., lower family functioning assessed from an adolescent's perspective) and parent-specific factors (i.e., parental stigma, stress, anxiety and psychopathology) were positively associated with at least one outcome. Adolescent epilepsy management should exceed assessment of biological/biomedical factors and incorporate assessment of psychosocial risk factors. Prospective studies examining the interplay between biological/biomedical factors and the psychosocial factors underpinning anxiety and depression in adolescents with epilepsy are needed.

Cognitive behavior therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder in routine clinical care: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has strong research support for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, less is known about how CBT performs when delivered in routine clinical care. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted of CBT for OCD in adults treated in routine clinical care. Ovid MEDLINE, Embase OVID, and PsycINFO were systematically searched for studies published until July 2021. The effectiveness of CBT, methodological quality, and moderators of treatment outcome were examined, and benchmarked by meta-analytically comparing with efficacy studies for OCD. Twenty-nine studies (8 randomized controlled trials) were included, comprising 1669 participants. Very large within-group effect sizes (ES) were obtained for OCD-severity at post-treatment (2.12), and follow-up (2.30), on average 15 months post-treatment. Remission rates were 59.2% post-treatment and 57.0% at follow-up. Attrition rate was 15.2%. Risk of bias was considerable in the majority of studies. The benchmarking analysis showed that effectiveness studies had almost exactly the same ES as efficacy studies at post-treatment and somewhat higher at follow-up. Furthermore, effectiveness studies had significantly higher remission rates than efficacy studies, both at post- and follow-up assessment. CBT for OCD is an effective treatment when delivered in routine clinical care, with ES comparable to those found in efficacy studies. However, the evidence needs to be interpreted with caution because of the risk of bias in a high proportion of studies. PROSPERO REGISTRATION ID: CRD42021228828.

A Rubric to Assess the Design and Intervention Quality of Randomized Controlled Trials in Health and Wellness Coaching

Objective

To collect health and wellness coaching (HWC) literature related to treatment of obesity and Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) for systematic assessment using a novel rubric.

Data Source

Pubmed, CINAHL, and PsychInfo

Study Inclusion and Exclusion

Given 282 articles retrieved, only randomized and controlled trials meeting a HWC criteria-based definition were included; studies with intervention <4 months or <4 sessions were excluded.

Data Extraction

Rubric assessment required details of two theoretical frameworks (i.e., study design and HWC intervention design) be extracted from each included paper.

Data Synthesis

Data were derived from a 28-item rubric querying items such as sampling characteristics, statistical methods, coach characteristics, HWC strategy, and intervention fidelity.

Results

29 articles were reviewed. Inter-rater rubric scoring yielded high intraclass correlation (r = .85). Rubric assessment of HWC literature resulted in moderate scores (56.7%), with study design scoring higher than intervention design; within intervention design, T2D studies scored higher than obesity.

Conclusions

A novel research design rubric is presented and successfully applied to assess HWC research related to treatment of obesity and T2D. Most studies reported beneficial clinical findings; however, rubric results revealed moderate scores for study and intervention design. Implications for future HWC research are discussed.

The limited efficacy of psychological interventions for depression in people with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes: An Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis (IPD-MA)

BACKGROUND

People with either Type 1/Type 2 diabetes experiencing anxiety or depression experience worse clinical and social outcomes. Efficacy of available psychological and pharmacological treatments for anxiety and depression is unclear. Aggregate data meta-analyses (AD-MAs) have failed to consider the clinical relevance of any change these treatments elicit. Thus, we sought to complete an individual participant data meta-analysis (IPD-MA) to evaluate this.

METHODS

Eligible RCTs of psychological treatments (PTs) and pharmacological treatments (PhTs) were systematically identified and assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool-2. IPD was requested and Jacobson's methodology was used to determine the clinical relevance of symptom-change. Traditional effect sizes were calculated to permit comparison of trials providing and not providing IPD and to compare with AD-MAs.

RESULTS

Sufficient data was obtained to conduct an IPD-MA for PTs (12/25) but not PhTs (1/5). Across PT trials, rates of 'recovery' for depression post-intervention were low. Whilst significantly more treated patients did recover (17% [95% CI 0.10, 0.25]) than controls (9% [95% CI 0.03, 0.17]), the difference was small (6% [95% CI 0.02, 0.10]).

LIMITATIONS

Only 50% of eligible trials provided IPD; we were also only able to examine outcomes immediately following the end of an intervention.

CONCLUSION

Current psychological interventions offer limited benefit in treating anxiety and depression in people with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes (83% remain depressed). More efficacious interventions are urgently needed.

The Association Between Maladaptive Metacognitive Beliefs and Emotional Distress in People Living With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

OBJECTIVE

Approximately half of all people living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) experience persistent or recurrent emotional distress, yet little is known about the psychological processes that maintain emotional distress in this population. The self-regulatory executive functioning (S-REF) model specifies that maladaptive metacognitive beliefs and processes are central to the development and maintenance of emotional distress. This study explored whether maladaptive metacognitive beliefs are associated with emotional distress after controlling for demographic factors, time since diagnosis, and current level of physical functioning.

DESIGN

In a cross-sectional design, 75 adults with a diagnosis of ALS completed self-report questionnaires. Participants had a mean age of 60.40 years, mean duration of symptoms 63.92 months, and male:female gender ratio of 14:11.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Questionnaires assessed emotional distress (HADS, adapted for ALS), physical functioning (ALSFRS-R), repetitive negative thinking (RTQ-10), metacognitive beliefs (MCQ-30), and demographic factors.

RESULTS

Maladaptive metacognitive beliefs explained additional variance in emotional distress after controlling for age, gender, time since diagnosis, physical functioning, and repetitive negative thinking. Repetitive negative thinking partially mediated the relationships between positive and negative metacognitive beliefs and emotional distress.

CONCLUSIONS

These data support the utility of the metacognitive model in understanding emotional distress in people with ALS. Examination of the temporal relationship between maladaptive metacognitive beliefs and emotional distress in people living with ALS may help to guide the development of therapeutic approaches.