Psychological Stresses Clinical Trial
Official title:
Effectiveness of the Strengths-Based Family Psychoeducation for Youth Psychosis: Randomized Controlled Trial
The onset of Psychosis forces family members to bear a heavy burden of care. The mental
well-being of the family is so complicated that it is important to relieve their
psychological stresses. Although family psychoeducation has been established as an
evidence-based practice especially for schizophrenia, few studies have primarily intended to
reduce the distress of the family due to the burden of care. MacFarlane's multifamily
psychoeducation is one of the representative models of a group setting, which is based on
the behavioral therapeutic approach. In such psychological interventions, it has been
emphasized to focus on the strengths that a person originally has for coping with
difficulties. The intervention of mainly drawing the strengths from the family might empower
them and lighten their psychological burden.
The first 2-5 years from the onset of psychosis is regarded as the critical period to
improve the prognosis, so the intervention including more recent-onset psychotic patients
might be of use. With regard to a setting of the psychoeducational intervention, a
homogeneous group one can make the program better fitted for their problems. The present
study aims to examine if the strength-based family psychoeducaiton for youth psychosis in a
group setting in addition to the treatment as usual would be more effective for alleviating
the psychological distresses of the family than the treatment as usual alone. Moreover, its
impact on the family of recent-onset psychosis is explored as the subgroup.
Psychosis, principally involving schizophrenia, is a severe mental illness that commonly
develops at a young age and often has a chronic course. The onset of Psychosis forces family
members to bear a heavy burden of care. It has been documented over and over again that the
mental well-being of the family is complicated. More than a dozen per cent of the family
have the morbidity corresponding to be depressive and anxiety disorders. It is important to
relieve their psychological stresses.
The concept of the burden of care is so broad and complex that its simple definition is a
challenging issue. It is usually defined as objective impacts on the household and
subjective consequences, which contain physical, economic, emotional and psychological
components. The psychological component involves the stigma against psychiatric disorders.
The studies of intervention to the family having a psychotic member have been mostly
conducted for the primary interest of reducing the rate of relapse and rehospitalization of
the psychotic. Their rationale of the intervention is based on the roles of the family that
develop the illness and cause a relapse (e.g., etiological relationship or expressed
emotion). Although family psychoeducation has been established as an evidence-based practice
especially for schizophrenic patients, few studies have primarily intended to reduce the
burden of their family.
Among various types of family psychoeducation, the group setting is considered as a better
method in terms of the creation of social support networks, limited medical resources and
cost-effectiveness. MacFarlane's multifamily psychoeducation is one of the representative
models of a group setting, which is composed of joining sessions, an educational workshop
and structured problem-solving group sessions. MacFarlane's model is based on the behavioral
therapeutic approach that mainly aims at stopping a vicious cycle. The cycle of
schizophrenia is peculiarly caused by expressed emotion, which is negative one expressed by
the family that lead to a high relapse rate (e.g., hostility or criticism).
In such psychological interventions, it has been emphasized to focus not only on the vicious
cycle but also on strengths. The strengths are defined as the power that a person has
originally for coping with difficulties. The intervention of mainly drawing out the
strengths of the family might empower them to face difficulties voluntarily and lighten
their psychological burden. However, to date, the effectiveness of family psychoeducation
based on the strengths approach has not been confirmed.
The onset of psychosis is generally at a young age. The first 2-5 years from the onset of
psychosis is regarded as the critical period to improve the prognosis, so the intervention
including more recent-onset psychotic patients might be of use. Additionally, the family of
a young patient has been reported to have strong concerns about returning to school, going
to work and getting married. With regard to a setting of the psychoeducational intervention,
a homogeneous group one can make the program better fitted for their problems and heighten
group cohesiveness.
The present study aims to examine if the strength-based family psychoeducaiton for youth
psychosis in a group setting in addition to the treatment as usual would be more effective
for alleviating the psychological distresses of the family than the treatment as usual
alone. Moreover, its impact on the family of recent-onset psychosis is explored as the
subgroup.
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Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Open Label, Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
| Status | Clinical Trial | Phase | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Completed |
NCT03110705 -
Recreational Diving Practice for Stress Management
|
N/A |