View clinical trials related to Psychotic Disorders.
Filter by:People with serious mental illness such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder experience high rates of physical illness and die earlier than people without serious mental illness (WHO, 2005). Health differences seem to be worse among African Americans (Weber, Cowan, Millikan & Niebuhr, 2009). High rates of obesity among this group contribute to health and wellness concerns (de Hert et al., 2011), with African American women at higher risk of obesity than men. Behavioral weight loss interventions (BWLIs) may promote diet and physical activity that lead to weight loss, but healthy food and safe physical activity options are less available in low-income neighborhoods. Peer navigators have been found to be effective in addressing health differences, and may help people living in low-income communities find healthy food and activity resources (Fischer, Sauaia, & Kutner, 2007). In addition, traumatic experiences are common among persons with serious mental illness as well as African Americans, and may impact weight. Through this project, investigators will test two interventions designed to address overweight and obesity among African Americans with serious mental illness. The first is a BWLI designed for persons with serious mental illness and adapted to meet the needs of African Americans. This program has 8-month intervention phase and 4-month maintenance phase. The intervention includes group weight management classes, group physical activity, individual visits to address barriers to meeting weight goals, and weigh-ins. The second intervention is a peer navigator program that assists people with serious mental illness in meeting their health needs in the community. Two-hundred and seventy (270) research participants will be recruited and randomly assigned to one of three conditions: BWLI program, BWLI program plus peer navigator, and treatment as usual (integrated physical and mental health care). Investigators will evaluate these interventions over a 12-month period, and will track weight change, health behaviors, physical and mental health, recovery, and quality of life. Investigators also seek to understand the impact of gender and trauma on outcomes. Investigators hypothesize that peer navigators will improve outcomes over the BWLI program alone. Findings will advance knowledge and services to reduce racial disparities in obesity and comorbid health conditions for African Americans with serious mental illnesses.
This study investigates whether Introspective Accuracy (IA) can be improved in individuals with schizophrenia by stimulating the brain via transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS).
The goal of this project is to investigate whether a systematic screening approach for individuals with first episode psychosis (FEP) can substantially reduce Duration of Untreated Psychosis (DUP). The study team will evaluate the feasibility of screening a consecutive help-seeking population entering mental health services in order to facilitate early identification of FEP cases, rapid referral to specialty care and engagement in treatment.
Despite advances in HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention, Black youth account for the largest number of new HIV infections among heterosexual youth. Having a mental illness contributes to HIV/STI risk among heterosexually active Black youth, as some use sex as a means to manage psychological distress, regulate emotions and receive validation or acceptance. Current intervention models focus on cognitive-behavioral strategies to reduce risk among adolescents; however, these approaches in isolation do not address the psychopathology that further potentiates risk behaviors among adolescents with mental illnesses. This randomized controlled trial evaluated the effects of "Project GOLD", a theoretically-driven, gender and culturally relevant, developmentally and psychologically appropriate HIV/STI risk reduction intervention on the sexual behaviors of Black male and female adolescents in Philadelphia (aged 14-17). In addition to evidence-based HIV/STI preventions strategies (e.g., role playing), Project GOLD includes unique emotion regulation content to address the relationship between psychological distress and HIV/STI risk behaviors. The research team approached and screened 704 adolescents. Eighty-two participated in the elicitation research activities (e.g., focus groups, intervention dress rehearsal). Another 173 underwent a structured demographic and mental health diagnostic interview to determine RCT eligibility. Project GOLD was then tested with 108 Black youth in comparison to a general health promotion control condition (intervention n = 52; control n = 56). Youth who were not in psychiatric treatment were also included, as the investigators hypothesized that they would also benefit from the targeted psychoeducational content; post-hoc analyses examined differences in the intervention effects based on whether or not youth were in psychiatric treatment. The intervention had high feasibility and acceptability. These findings underscore the need to encourage HIV/STI testing and risk reduction efforts among Black youth, including those with mental illnesses.
The present study wants to evaluate the efficacy of a short psychoeducational type group intervention and Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) 3rd wave on the severity of hallucinatory Acoustico-Verbal (HAV) symptomatology in patients with schizophrenia.
Problem solving based intervention involving the workplace has shown promising effects on return-to-work among persons with common mental disorders. A key element is cooperation between the person on sick leave, the participant's employer and health care professionals. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effects of a problem solving based intervention in the Swedish primary health care system on an employed population on sick leave due to common mental disorders. Cluster randomized controlled trial. The investigators hypothesize that: Participants who have undergone the work-related problem solving based intervention will have fewer total days on sick leave than the participants who receive treatment as usual at 18 months. Participants who receive the work-related problem solving based intervention will have fewer recurrent periods of sick leave than the participants who receive treatment as usual at 18 months. Participants who receive the work-related problem solving therapy intervention will score better on the secondary outcomes than the participants in the control group. Population: Employed, aged 18 - 59, on short-term sick leave (min. 2 - max. 12 weeks) due to common mental disorders. Intervention: Work-related problem solving based intervention in addition to treatment as usual. The intervention will be given by rehabilitation coordinators on max. five occasions and includes: making an inventory of problems and/or opportunities related to return-to-work; identifying the support needed to implement the solutions; a meeting with the person on sick leave, his/her employer and the rehabilitation coordinator to discuss solutions; making an action plan and evaluation. Control: The control group will receive care as usual (i.e. cognitive behavioral therapy and/or medical treatment, and meeting with a rehabilitation coordinator if this is a part of care as usual at the primary health care centre). A total of 220 persons on sick leave and 30 rehabilitation coordinators will be included. Primary outcome: total number of days on sick leave at 18 months after baseline. A parallel process evaluation will be conducted to examine: to what extent it is possible to implement problem-solving therapy according to the protocol; the relationship between the key elements of problem-solving intervention and the effect outcome; how the participants perceive the intervention.
All participants will receive free weekly counseling (8- weeks) and free nicotine patches (10-weeks). They will complete assessment measures commonly used in smoking cessation studies. We hope to show that this treatment is feasible in this small pilot study before comparing it to a more established treatment in a future randomized clinical trial.
People with serious mental illness often report difficulties with thinking skills like memory. These difficulties can make it harder to perform day-to-day activities. The purpose of this study is to test whether combining a type of non-invasive brain stimulation with computerized cognitive exercises is acceptable to participants, and whether it is helpful in improving a specific type of memory skill in people who have mental health conditions and memory deficits. This study is designed so that all participants will get both treatments: the non-invasive brain stimulation and computerized cognitive exercises. Half of the participants will start with both the brain stimulation and the cognitive exercises (dual therapy), and half will start with just the computerized exercises (monotherapy). After three weeks, participants will switch to the other condition: the people who did both treatments first will switch to just the cognitive exercises alone, and the people who started with the cognitive exercises alone will then switch to doing both the brain stimulation and cognitive exercises. Overall, participants will be in the study for about 7-8 weeks. The brain stimulation treatment involves 10 visits to the clinic over 3 weeks. The computerized cognitive exercises can be done at home, and involve 10 hours of exercises over 3 weeks. Participants will also complete paper-and-pencil assessments at the beginning, middle, and end of treatment.
Vitamin D deficiency is common among otherwise healthy pregnant women and may have consequences for them as well as the early development and long-term health of their children. However, the importance of maternal vitamin D status has not been widely studied. The present study is divided into a societal experiment (1) and a case-cohort study (2): 1. The present study includes an in-depth examination of the influence of exposure to vitamin D early in life and during critical periods of growth for development of type 1 diabetes (T1D), type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, obesity, asthma, arthritis, cancer, mental and cognitive disorders, congenital disorders, dental caries and bone fractures during child- and adulthood. The study is based on the fact that mandatory fortification of margarine with vitamin D, which initiated in 1937, was terminated in 1985. Apart from determining the influences of exposure prior to conception and during pre- and postnatal life, the investigators examined the importance of vitamin D exposure during specific seasons and trimesters, by comparing disease incidence among individuals born before and after the fortification. 2. Additionally, a validated method was used to determine neonatal vitamin D status using stored dried blood spots (DBS) from individuals who develop the aforementioned disease entities as adults and their time and gender-matched controls. Unparalleled, the study will help determine the effects of vitamin D exposure during critical periods in life. There are a sufficient number of individuals to verify any effects during different gestation phases and seasons of the year. The results, which will change our current understanding of the significance of vitamin D, will enable new research in related fields, including interventional research designed to assess supplementation needs for different subgroups of pregnant women. Also, other health outcomes can subsequently be studied to generate multiple new interdisciplinary health research opportunities involving vitamin D.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of pimavanserin compared to placebo in preventing relapse of psychotic symptoms in subjects with dementia-related psychosis who responded to 12 weeks of open label pimavanserin treatment.