Ultra-brief acceptance & commitment therapy for inpatients with psychosis - a single-case experimental design investigating processes of change

People with primary psychosis are among the most seen in inpatient psychiatry. Treatment guidelines recommend both pharmacological and psychological treatments. However, psychological treatments are not routinely offered in many settings. There is also a lack of research on psychological treatments for this vulnerable population in the inpatient setting. The first aim of the current study was to examine treatment effects of a brief form of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on outcomes valued by the treatment recipients. The second aim was to explore hypothetical processes of change in relation to outcomes over time. Three people with primary psychosis were treated for two to four sessions. A replicated single-case experimental design with multiple baselines across subjects (Clinical Trials registration number ID NCT04704973) was employed to examine treatment effects. The Personal Questionnaire (PQ) was used as primary outcome, symptom believability and preoccupation as proposed processes of change. Data were analyzed using visual inspection, calculation of Tau-U values, and cross-lagged correlation. All participants improved significantly on PQ and the symptom preoccupation measure. Two improved significantly on the symptom believability measure. Cross-lagged correlation analyses showed no clear mediation. Change in proposed processes of change and primary outcome predominantly happened concomitantly, although patterns of results reflected individual differences.

Risk factors associated with symptoms of temporomandibular disorders among women with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome: Questionnaire-based study in Finland and Sweden

BACKGROUND

Generalized joint hypermobility as a characteristic feature of Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) is among the factors contributing to temporomandibular disorders (TMD).

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the prevalence of TMD symptoms and their risk factors among women born in Sweden or Finland who were 27- to 78-year-olds with diagnosed hypermobile EDS (hEDS).

METHODS

A cohort of women with confirmed hEDS (n = 185) was constructed from the members of the National EDS Associations in both countries. Based on questionnaire data, frequency of independent variables in terms of socio-demographic, general health and oral health-related factors, comorbid symptoms and psychological distress for self-reported TMD symptoms as the dependent variables, were calculated first. Prevalence ratios (PR) and their 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were estimated for the association between independent and dependent variables.

RESULTS

Nearly all participants reported TMD symptoms (98%) with TMD pain (95%), TMJ clicking (90%) and jaw fatigue (80%) as the most common symptoms and TMJ crepitation (63%) and luxation (44%) as the least common symptoms. Risk factors for TMD among 27- to 50-year-olds participants were Finland as a country of birth, living alone and self-reported worst pain in the body (not the joints). The respective risk factors among the 51- to 78-year-olds were Finland as a country of birth, family history of EDS, tinnitus and regularly taking contraceptives.

CONCLUSIONS

Among adult women with confirmed hEDS, socio-demographic and health-related factors and comorbid symptoms were significantly associated with TMD but with differences regarding age group. Therefore, management of TMD requires a multidisciplinary approach among the affected.

Psychotherapist variables that may lead to treatment failure or termination-A qualitative analysis of patients' perspectives

A substantial number of patients do not improve from psychotherapy, some even deteriorate, and some terminate treatment prematurely. Identifying therapist variables that may lead to treatment failures from patients' perspectives can inform how psychotherapists can increase effectiveness. Using a semistructured protocol, we interviewed 24 patients who had experienced unsatisfying individual face-to-face psychotherapy within the last 2 years. The study procedures were guided by the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research. The manifest content analysis provided 13 subcategories grouped into four categories: (a) psychotherapists' negative traits (inflexible, unengaged, unemphatic, insecure), (b) unprofessionalism (superficial, violating personal boundaries, breaking confidentiality, nontransparent), (c) incompetence (unstructured, poor assessment or understanding, poor knowledge, too passive), and (d) mismatch (therapist-patient mismatch). To reduce the risk of treatment failure, psychotherapists may need a multifaceted set of relational skills, theoretical and technical competence, ethical sensitivity, and engagement. Some of the identified subcategories were complex constructs (e.g., unengaged) that may need time and effort to develop for psychotherapists. Other identified subcategories were obvious inappropriate behaviors in professional psychotherapy (e.g., breaking confidentiality). However, the categories found in this study need further quantitative investigation to assess the validity, frequency, and relative impact on treatment outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Promoting Healthy Behaviors Among Adolescents and Young Adults With Intellectual Disability: Protocol for Developing a Digital Intervention With Co-Design Workshops

BACKGROUND

Intellectual disability (ID) is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with a poorer health profile and higher mortality. Young people with ID have more sedentary lifestyles than their typically developing peers. Consequently, this group is at significant risk of developing lifestyle diseases (ie, noncommunicable diseases) later in life. Increasing physical activity and eating a healthier diet have been argued to be effective ways to improve the health of adolescents and young adults with ID. Digital interventions are a viable option for improving health behaviors.

OBJECTIVE

This research protocol describes a co-design approach using workshops to develop a digital intervention that promotes healthy behaviors, including increasing physical activity and eating a healthier diet, among adolescents and young adults with ID.

METHODS

A participatory design using a co-design approach will be applied as a strategy to include potential users of the digital intervention and other stakeholders in the research process, comprising research design, data collection, and data analysis. A total of 7 to 10 workshops will be conducted aimed at developing a digital intervention and will include procedures for assessing needs; facilitators and barriers to health promotion; physical, mental, and social well-being; participation; and relationships. The workshops will include 12 to 18 stakeholders with experience of clinical practice and research related to young people with ID, including relatives, as well as adolescents and young adults (aged 16-25 years) with mild to moderate ID. Participants will perform a mixture of individual and group work using whiteboards, sticky notes, felt-tip pens, cards, balls, stickers, and wireframe templates. Data analysis will take place concurrently with data collection as an iterative process. Transcribed data from the audio and video recordings of the groups' discussions will be analyzed following a qualitative methodological procedure.

RESULTS

This study protocol provides a systematic record of the scientific methodologies used when developing the digital intervention and provides insights into the potential practical solutions and challenges when following a co-design approach in which relatives and professionals, as well as adolescents and young adults with ID, are included as research partners. Recruitment of participants started in April 2023. Data collection, analysis, and reporting will be completed in December 2023.

CONCLUSIONS

This study will explore the effectiveness of workshops at gathering rich, reliable, and valid data in a co-design approach with participants. The results will provide increased knowledge in how to use technology to develop novel, evidence-based, and scalable interventions that adolescents and young adults with ID can and want to use to motivate physical activity and a healthier diet. The project will provide a simple and cognitively accessible digital solution for promoting lifestyle behaviors tailored to the needs of adolescents and young adults with ID.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

PRR1-10.2196/47877.

Patterns of Relational Framing in Executive Function: An Investigation of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test

Executive function (EF) is a concept widely used to describe higher order cognitive functioning. However, the concept seems to lack a precise definition upon which even experts in the area can agree. Examples of existing definitions describe EF as capacities for independent self-serving behavior and aspects of working memory, planning and organizational skills. It has been argued that the definition of EF is too imprecise, in terms of informing effective interventions. To possibly understand the range of behaviors termed EF in a more workable way, we administered a well-known computerized test (the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test; WCST) of EF to a sample of normal functioning participants (n = 11). During administration, they were asked questions about their ways of thinking. Transcriptions of questions and answers were analyzed in search of common patterns, using a behavioral theory of language and cognition (relational frame theory; RFT). The analysis suggested that a specific relationship between deictic and temporal framing, on the one hand, and coordination and spatial framing, on the other, was in effect when participants performed well on the WCST. At critical time points during the test (i.e., when need for EF was arguably most acute), deictic and temporal framing dominated participants’ behavior, whereas coordination and spatial framing were used relatively less.