Acceptability and potential benefit of a self-compassion intervention for people living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a mixed methods pilot study.

This proof-of-concept study aimed to explore the acceptability and potential benefit of a self-guided online self-compassion intervention to aid resilient coping and reduce emotional distress among patients and caregivers living with ALS. A single-arm pilot study was conducted in 20 adults living with ALS either as a patient or as a caregiver. Acceptability was examined using questionnaires ( = 20) and semi-structured interviews ( = 9).

Effectiveness of a positive psychology and mindfulness-based app on mental health for parents of children with a neurodevelopmental disorder: study protocol of a pragmatic international randomized controlled trial.

Introduction: Parents of children with a neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) experience more stress than parents of typically developing children. In a cocreation process with experts and parents, a low-threshold application that uses exercises based on the principles of positive psychology and mindfulness was developed. This application, called "Adappt," aims at enhancing the ability to adapt of the parents and caregivers of children with NDDs and at supporting their mental health.

Predicting which intervention works better for whom: Moderators of treatment effect of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Positive Psychology Intervention in patients with bipolar disorder.

Background: This study aimed to identify moderators of treatment effect (i.e. depressive symptoms and well-being) of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Positive Psychology Intervention (PPI) in patients with bipolar disorder.

Benefits, Recruitment, Dropout, and Acceptability of the Strength Back Digital Health Intervention for Patients Undergoing Spinal Surgery: Nonrandomized, Qualitative, and Quantitative Pilot Feasibility Study.

Background: Patients undergoing spinal surgery report high levels of insecurity, pain, stress, and anxiety before and after surgery. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that surgery will resolve all issues; postsurgical recovery often entails moderate to severe postoperative pain, and some patients undergoing spinal surgery do not experience (long-term) pain relief after surgery. Therefore, focusing on sustainable coping skills and resilience is crucial for these patients.

Effectiveness of compassion-focused therapy for self-criticism in patients with personality disorders: a multiple baseline case series study.

Objective: Targeting self-criticism, the tendency to negatively evaluate and judge aspects of oneself, may improve treatment efficacy for personality disorders (PDs). This study aimed to test whether adding 12-week group compassion-focused therapy (CFT) that explicitly targets self-criticism to treatment as usual (TAU) would reduce self-criticism in patients with PDs.

Method: Twelve patients with PDs participated in a multiple baseline study, randomly allocated to different baseline lengths.

Compas-Y: A mixed methods pilot evaluation of a mobile self-compassion training for people with newly diagnosed cancer.

Objective: Compas-Y is a compassionate mind training app that was co-designed to be fully adapted to mobile technology and to people with newly diagnosed cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the use, appreciation and impact of the app.

Methods: Seventy-one people with cancer who created an app account were included (38% breast cancer, 72% diagnosed <4 months ago, 76% received chemotherapy).

Predicting non-improvement of symptoms in daily mental healthcare practice using routinely collected patient-level data: a machine learning approach.

Objectives: Anxiety and mood disorders greatly affect the quality of life for individuals worldwide. A substantial proportion of patients do not sufficiently improve during evidence-based treatments in mental healthcare. It remains challenging to predict which patients will or will not benefit.

Exploring mental health dynamics during eating disorder treatment: A psychometric network study with panel data.

To explore mental health associations during eating disorder (ED) treatment. Based on the dual-continua model of mental health, general and ED-specific psychopathology, as well as emotional, psychological, and social well-being were considered as mental health domains. Network analyses with panel data were applied to explore within- (temporal and contemporaneous networks) and between-person effects in a sample of 1250 female ED patients during 12 months of outpatient treatment.

First validation of the model of sustainable mental health: Structural model validity and the indirect role of adaptation.

Objectives: There is a growing interest in mental well-being as a vital outcome in clinical practice in addition to mental illness. The model of sustainable mental health (SMH) was recently introduced to delineate how interventions can improve mental health by targeting barriers and resources of adaptation to life stressors, improving the ability to adapt and thereby reducing mental illness and improving mental well-being. The aim of the current study is to empirically validate the conceptual model of SMH as well as the assumed indirect role of ability to adapt.

Compassion apps for better mental health: qualitative review.

Background: There is increasing empirical evidence for the positive mental health effects of compassion-based interventions. Although numerous smartphone apps offering compassion-based interventions ('compassion apps') are now available for the general public, the quality of these apps has not yet been reviewed. A qualitative review of existing compassion apps serves as a crucial first step toward testing the efficacy of these apps, by identifying good-quality compassion apps that might be worth the investment of a scientific trial.

Strength Back - A qualitative study on the co-creation of a positive psychology digital health intervention for spinal surgery patients.

Introduction: Spinal surgery patients often experience pain as well as stress, anxiety or even depression before surgery, highlighting the need for better mental preparation before undergoing surgery. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and positive psychology have proven effective in coping with chronic pain and providing long-term skills that enhance psychological flexibility and mental well-being.The aim of this study is to develop a digital intervention (app) based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and positive psychology in co-creation with all stakeholders, including patients and professionals.

Introduction of the generic sense of ability to adapt scale and validation in a sample of outpatient adults with mental health problems.

Introduction: The ability to adapt is a core aspect of daily human life. Recent models and theories emphasize its essential role for health and well-being. It concerns the perceived ability to readjust and actively deal with the psychosocial consequences of challenging events.

Augmenting outpatient alcohol treatment as usual with online approach bias modification training: A double-blind randomized controlled trial.

Previous research shows that automatic tendency to approach alcohol plays a causal role in problematic alcohol use and can be retrained by Approach Bias Modification (ApBM). ApBM has been shown to be effective for patients diagnosed with alcohol use disorder (AUD) in inpatient treatment. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of adding an online ApBM to treatment as usual (TAU) in an outpatient setting compared to receiving TAU with an online placebo training.

A multicomponent positive psychology intervention for euthymic patients with bipolar disorder to improve mental well-being and personal recovery: A pragmatic randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Mental well-being and personal recovery are important treatment targets for patients with bipolar disorder (BD). The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an 8-week group multicomponent positive psychology intervention (PPI) for euthymic patients with BD as an adjunct to treatment as usual (TAU) compared to TAU alone.

Methods: Patients with BD were randomized to receive TAU (n = 43) or the PPI in addition to TAU (n = 54).

Appreciating the Good Things in Life During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Randomized Controlled Trial and Evaluation of a Gratitude App.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had many negative consequences on the general public mental health. The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of and satisfaction with an app with gratitude exercises to improve the mental health of people with reduced mental well-being due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as potential mechanisms of well-being change and dose-response relationships. A two-armed randomized controlled trial design was used, with two groups receiving the 6-week gratitude intervention app either immediately (intervention group,  = 424) or after 6 weeks (waiting list control group,  = 425).

Integrating Top-down and Bottom-up Requirements in eHealth Development: The Case of a Mobile Self-compassion Intervention for People With Newly Diagnosed Cancer.

Background: Psychosocial eHealth interventions for people with cancer are promising in reducing distress; however, their results in terms of effects and adherence rates are quite mixed. Developing interventions with a solid evidence base while still ensuring adaptation to user wishes and needs is recommended to overcome this. As most models of eHealth development are based primarily on examining user experiences (so-called bottom-up requirements), it is not clear how theory and evidence (so-called top-down requirements) may best be integrated into the development process.

Further Validation of a Dutch Translation of the Sussex Oxford Compassion for the Self Scale in Samples of Crisis Line Volunteers, Military Personnel and Nursing Students.

Self-compassion is considered an important, transdiagnostic factor for mental health. The Sussex Oxford Compassion for the Self Scale (SOCS-S) is a recently developed comprehensive measure of self-compassion, that was found to have promising psychometric properties among health care staff and university students in the initial validation study. The aim of this study is the further psychometric evaluation of a Dutch translation of the SOCS-S in different populations and settings.

Examining well-being in posttraumatic stress disorder treatment: An explorative study.

Although the importance of well-being in mental health is widely acknowledged, well-being as a predictor of and outcome in the treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has received little attention. This naturalistic study aimed to investigate well-being in the context of care-as-usual treatment for PTSD. Patients with PTSD attending a community mental health center (N = 318) completed measures of well-being and PTSD symptoms before and after symptom-focused treatment.

Gratitude as Mood Mediates the Effects of a 6-Weeks Gratitude Intervention on Mental Well-Being: Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

There is a gap of knowledge about the extent to which gratitude is indeed the working mechanism of change in gratitude interventions aiming to promote mental well-being. This study explores the mediational role of gratitude as mood in the context of a recently conducted randomized controlled trial on the effects of a 6-week gratitude intervention on mental well-being in comparison with a waitlist control group. Gratitude as mood was measured at 2, 4, and 6 weeks.

Cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy intervention vs. a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy intervention for older adults with anxiety symptoms: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: A previous randomized controlled trial in older adults with anxiety symptoms found no differences between a brief blended Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) intervention and brief face-to-face Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) regarding anxiety symptom severity at posttreatment and 12-month follow-up. A health-economic evaluation comparing these interventions has not yet been conducted.

Objective: This study examined the one-year cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of blended ACT compared to face-to-face CBT for older adults with anxiety symptoms.

The Model for Sustainable Mental Health: Future Directions for Integrating Positive Psychology Into Mental Health Care.

This position paper proposes a model for systematic integration of positive psychology interventions (PPIs) in mental healthcare. On the one hand, PPIs can contribute to the decrease of dysfunctional processes underlying mental illness. This evidence is at the core of the new domains of positive clinical psychology and positive psychiatry.

Practicing Other-Focused Kindness and Self-Focused Kindness Among Those at Risk for Mental Illness: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

People with reduced levels of mental well-being might be at risk for developing future mental illness. Although several positive psychology interventions successfully improve mental well-being and psychological distress, less is known about their efficacy in a sample at risk for mental disorders. A Dutch sample of 289 participants with low or moderate levels of well-being were randomly assigned to other-focused kindness with reflection, other-focused kindness without reflection, self-focused kindness, or waitlist control (Trial register: NTR6786).