[Trends in compulsory admissions and care in the period 2003-2023 in the Netherlands].

Background: Coercion in Dutch mental health care has continuously increased since the Special Admissions to Psychiatric Hospitals Act (Bopz) came into force in 1994. With the introduction of the Conditional Authorization in 2004, the increase in involuntary admissions was slowed down and outpatient compulsory treatment increased. The new Compulsory Mental Healthcare Act in the Netherlands (Wvggz) has been in force since 2020 and aims to reduce involuntary admissions.

TAPS-tool reveals severe under detection of substance use problems in patients with severe mental illness.

Introduction: Substance use disorders (SUD) and associated problems are highly prevalent but often undetected in patients with Severe Mental Illness (SMI). This study investigates the prevalence, under-detection, and variables associated with a high risk of SUD in a Dutch sample of adult outpatient SMI patients (N = 83).

Methods: Substance use (The Tobacco, Alcohol, Prescription medication, and other Substance use -TAPS-tool), quality of life (Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life-MANSA), general functioning (Health of the Nation Outcome Scale-HoNOS), DSM-5 classifications and patient characteristics (age, education, marital status) were assessed.

Fear-related associations in children of parents with an anxiety disorder.

Background And Objectives: Children of parents with an anxiety disorder are at elevated risk for developing an anxiety disorder themselves. According to cognitive theories, a possible risk factor is the development of schema-related associations. This study is the first to investigate whether children of anxious parents display fear-related associations and whether these associations relate to parental anxiety.

The mental health self-direction scale: An abridged version and its sensitivity to change.

Objective: The Mental Health Self-Direction Scale (MHSD) measures the extent to which clients are able to resolve mental problems by themselves. Because this scale had not yet been evaluated, the aims of this paper were (a) to evaluate and improve the MHSD and (b) to explore the sensitivity to change of the improved scale.

Method: The MHSD was evaluated and improved by means of confirmatory factor analyses of data from one longitudinal and two cross-sectional outpatient sample.

Disentangling the Therapist Effect: Clustering Therapists by Using Different Treatment Outcomes.

Previous studies have shown that therapists' performance varies, known as therapist effects, and have indicated that therapists who excel in one treatment outcome may not necessarily be effective in other outcomes. This observational naturalistic study aimed to enhance our understanding of therapist effects and the assessment of therapists' performance in different areas. The study included 68 therapists and 5,582 clients from a large mental health facility.

Measuring the intensity of mental healthcare: development of the Mental Healthcare Intensity Scale (MHIS).

Background: There are considerable differences among mental healthcare services, and especially in developed countries there are a substantial number of different services available. The intensity of mental healthcare has been an important variable in research studies (e.g.

The results of clinician-focused implementation strategies on uptake and outcomes of Measurement-Based Care (MBC) in general mental health care.

Background: Measurement-Based Care (MBC) is the routine administration of measures, clinicians' review of the feedback and discussion of the feedback with their clients, and collaborative evaluation of the treatment plan. Although MBC is a promising way to improve outcomes in clinical practice, the implementation of MBC faces many barriers, and its uptake by clinicians is low. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether implementation strategies that were developed with clinicians and aimed at clinicians had an effect on (a) clinicians' uptake of MBC and (b) clients' outcomes of MBC.

Self-Assessment of Addiction Medicine Core Competencies in Four Year Groups of Psychiatrists in Training: Efficacy of the Addiction Medicine Training Needs Assessment Scale in a Local Training Context.

Background: In addiction medicine training, self-assessment is increasingly used to support self-regulation learning by identifying standards of excellence, competence gaps, and training needs. To ensure psychiatrists in Lithuania also develop specific addiction competencies, the Lithuanian Health Sciences University faculty in Kaunas developed an addiction psychiatry curriculum.

Objectives: The aim of this research is to explore the efficacy of the AM-TNA scale to measure individual and group differences in proficiency in the core competencies of addiction medicine.

Exploring therapist characteristics as potential moderators of the effects of client feedback on treatment outcome.

Although studies have shown that client feedback can improve treatment outcome, little is known about which factors might possibly moderate the effects of such feedback. The present study investigated potential therapist variables that might influence whether frequent client feedback is effective, including the Big Five personality traits, internal/external feedback propensity and self-efficacy. Data from two previous studies, a quasi-experimental study and a randomized controlled trial, were combined.

Therapists' self-assessment of time spent on learning activities and its relationship to treatment outcomes: A replication study.

Objectives: This study investigated whether therapists' self-assessed time spent on learning activities was associated with treatment outcomes. The study was a replication of Chow et al.'s (2015) study, which showed that the most effective therapists spent more total time on solitary learning activities than less effective therapists.

The Compulsory Care Act: Early Observations and Expectations of In- or Outpatient Involuntary Treatment.

Background: On January 1, 2020, the Dutch Compulsory Care Act (WvGGZ) replaced the Special Admissions Act (BOPZ). While the old law only allowed compulsory treatment in hospitals, the new law allows it both inside and outside the hospital. Moreover, the new law prioritizes the patient's own opinion on coercive measures.

Can social support be improved in people with a severe mental illness? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

People with a severe mental illness often have less social support than other people, yet these people need social support to face the challenges in their lives. Increasing social support could benefit the person's recovery, but it is not clear whether interventions that aim to improve social support in people with a severe mental illness are effective. A systematic literature search and review in MEDLINE (PubMed), PsycINFO, CINAHL, Cochrane, JSTOR, IBSS, and Embase was performed.

Measuring personal recovery in a low-intensity community mental healthcare setting: validation of the Dutch version of the individual recovery outcomes counter (I.ROC).

Background: Measuring progress in treatment is essential for systematic evaluation by service users and their care providers. In low-intensity community mental healthcare, a questionnaire to measure progress in treatment should be aimed at personal recovery and should require little effort to complete.

Methods: The Individual Recovery Outcome Counter (I.

Construction and validation of a self-direction measure for mental health care.

Objective: The aims were to describe and develop a measure of the concept of the active self as self-direction and to assess the extent to which clients in a mental healthcare setting were becoming self-directive instead of being directed by their therapist.

Methods: A panel of experts was formed to discuss the concept self-direction and to formulate a tentative model of self-direction. An initial questionnaire was constructed.

Formal Elements of Art Products Indicate Aspects of Mental Health.

Formal elements are often used in art therapy assessment. The assumption is that formal elements are observable aspects of the art product that allow reliable and valid assessment of clients' mental health. Most of the existing art therapy assessment instruments are based on clinical expertise.

Measuring Social Support in People with Mental Illness: A Quantitative Analysis of the Social Network Map.

An instrument is needed for quantitatively evaluating changes in social support in people with mental illness, but no gold standard is available. The Social Network Map is a structured interview for assessing social support that is used in individual care settings, yet provides overwhelming output (16-128 data points per assessment). A method comprising two factors (quality and quantity of the social network) was developed.

Patients' perceived lack of goal clarity in psychological treatments: Scale development and negative correlates.

Goal setting in psychological treatments may have favourable effects on patients' motivation and treatment outcomes. Therefore, it seems important to detect when patients do not perceive clear treatment goals. The current study presents a questionnaire measuring patients' perceived lack of goal clarity.

Diagnose, indicate, and treat severe mental illness (DITSMI) as appropriate care: A three-year follow-up study in long-term residential psychiatric patients on the effects of re-diagnosis on medication prescription, patient functioning, and hospital bed utilization.

Background: While polypharmacy is common in long-term residential psychiatric patients, prescription combinations may, from an evidence-based perspective, be irrational. Potentially, many psychiatric patients are treated on the basis of a poor diagnosis. We therefore evaluated the DITSMI model (i.

Three Pathways of Seclusion Reduction Programs to Sustainability: Ten Years Follow Up in Psychiatry.

From 2004 onwards, above 50 seclusion reduction programs (SRP) were developed, implemented and evaluated in the Netherlands. However, little is known about their sustainability, as to which extent obtained reduction could be maintained. This study monitored three programs over ten years seeking to identify important factors contributing to this.

Similar yet unique: the victim's journey after acute sexual assault and the importance of continuity of care.

Objective: To examen the short-term and long-term responses of sexual assault victims who attended a sexual assault centre.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were held with twelve victims of sexual assault who received help from a sexual assault centre. Analyses were done in Atlas.

Decision making on (dis)continuation of long-term treatment in mental health services is an interpersonal negotiation rather than an objective process: qualitative study.

Background: Research into termination of long-term psychosocial treatment of mental disorders is scarce. Yearly 25% of people in Dutch mental health services receive long-term treatment. They account for many people, contacts, and costs.

Substituting specialist care for patients with severe mental illness with primary healthcare. Experiences in a mixed methods study.

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: Care planning and coordination are currently insufficiently based on scientific insights due to a lack of knowledge on this topic. Most patients with severe mental illness receive long-term treatment from specialized mental health services. This long-term, highly intensive treatment is not always the best option for two reasons.

How Art Therapists Observe Mental Health Using Formal Elements in Art Products: Structure and Variation as Indicators for Balance and Adaptability.

In clinical practice, formal elements of art products are regularly used in art therapy observation to obtain insight into clients' mental health and provide directions for further treatment. Due to the diversity of formal elements used in existing studies and the inconsistency in the interpretation, it is unclear which formal elements contribute to insight into clients' mental health. In this qualitative study using Constructivist Grounded Theory, eight art therapists were interviewed in-depth to identify which formal elements they observe, how they describe mental health and how they associate formal elements with mental health.

Trauma-Focused Art Therapy in the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Pilot Study.

Research showed that more than 30% of patients with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) do not benefit from evidence-based treatments: Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). These are patients with prolonged and multiple traumatization, with poor verbal memory, and patients with emotional over-modulation. Retelling traumatic experiences in detail is poorly tolerated by these patients and might be a reason for not starting or not completing the recommended treatments.