Blueprint for destigmatizing depression and increasing openness to treatment among adolescents using brief social contact-based videos: a qualitative study.

Background: Depression is a major public health concern for adolescents, who exhibit low rates of connection to care despite significant needs. Although barriers to help-seeking such as stigma are well documented, interventions to address stigma and to increase help-seeking behavior are insufficient. Dissemination of short videos in social media offer a promising approach, but designing effective stimuli requires better insight into adolescents' perspectives of their own experiences, barriers, and possible interventions.

Fidelity to Common Elements of Coordinated Specialty Care: Outcomes of Clients With First-Episode Psychosis.

Objective: The present study examined whether clients enrolled in coordinated specialty care (CSC) programs for first-episode psychosis (FEP) across 22 states and territories showed improved clinical and functional outcomes and assessed whether program- or client-level predictors were associated with client outcomes. The study included CSC programs that subscribe to a variety of models, including Early Assessment and Support Alliance, OnTrack, and NAVIGATE.

Methods: Deidentified demographic and outcome data were collected from clients (N=770) receiving CSC services in 36 programs at the time of program entry and every 6 months for up to 18 months.

The California collaborative network to promote data driven care and improve outcomes in early psychosis (EPI-CAL) project: rationale, background, design and methodology.

Background: A prolonged first episode of psychosis (FEP) without adequate treatment is a predictor of poor clinical, functional, and health outcomes and significant economic burden. Team-based "coordinated specialty care" (CSC) for early psychosis (EP) has established effectiveness in promoting clinical and functional recovery. However, California's CSC program implementation has been unsystematic and could benefit from standardizing its processes and data collection infrastructure.

Feasibility and Acceptability of Providing Cognitive Remediation in a Large USA System of Coordinated Specialty Care for Early Psychosis.

Introduction: Multinational treatment guidelines support providing cognitive remediation to people recently diagnosed with schizophrenia, but the feasibility of implementing the treatment on a large scale is less well understood.

Methods: This study took place between 2019 and 2023 at 14 clinics within a large network of programs providing early intervention services to people aged 16-30 experiencing nonaffective psychosis. Clinics were randomly assigned to deliver cognitive remediation as twice-weekly clinician-led groups (N = 5), cognitive remediation as once-weekly clinician-led groups with homework (N = 6), or treatment as usual (N = 3).

Navigating Uncertainty: Adapting Guidance for Mental Health During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency & the Crucial Role of Bi-directional Feedback.

In response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, state and local mental health authorities rapidly developed and disseminated guidance to community mental health agencies. While tailored communication is effective to reach target audiences under usual circumstances, strategies to facilitate the implementation of guidance amidst a rapidly evolving public health emergency are not well understood. This project sought to understand factors informing decision-making about adaptations to guidance, and strategies used to disseminate and facilitate guidance implementation among system-level community partners in OnTrackNY Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC) programs for early psychosis.

Characterizing Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: Results of the U.S. Mental and Substance Use Disorders Prevalence Study.

Objective: Current information on treatment and clinical characteristics of U.S. adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (i.

Psychosis Risk: Time to Look Empirically at a First-step Economical-pragmatic Way to Examine Anomalous Self-experience. Exploring the SQuEASE-11.

Background: Since the late 1990s, there has been a worldwide surge of scientific interest in the pre-psychotic phase, resulting in the introduction of several clinical tools for early detection. The predictive accuracy of these tools has been limited, motivating the need for methodological and perspectival improvements. The EASE manual supports systematic assessment of anomalous self-experience, and proposes an overall model of understanding how most psychotic experiences may be initially generated on the basis of a unifying, fundamental, pre-reflective distortion of subjectivity.

Clinical characteristics and functioning of adults with bipolar I disorder: Evidence from the mental and substance use disorders prevalence study.

Background: Knowledge of clinical, treatment and life circumstances of individuals with bipolar I disorder (BP-I) in US households is informed by decades old epidemiological surveys.

Methods: The Mental and Substance Use Disorders Prevalence Study was conducted October 2020-October 2022. Clinicians administered the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-5 diagnosing 12-month prevalence of BP-I and other mental health disorders (MHD) among 4764 adults aged 18-65 years and collected sociodemographic information.

Qualitative Evaluation of Acceptability and Feasibility of a Behavioral Intervention to Reduce Violence Among Young Adults with Early Psychosis.

Young adults with early psychosis are at higher risk of violent behavior, but no studies have explored using CBT-based interventions to reduce violence in specialized early intervention services (EIS) settings. This study describes formative research about the acceptability and feasibility of the Psychological Intervention for Complex PTSD and Schizophrenia-Spectrum disorder (PICASSO) to reduce violence, using interviews with EIS participants and staff. Generated themes regarding acceptability included negative experiences of violence and the desire to control and minimize violence.

Client and family experiences with telehealth-delivered early psychosis services.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a significant shift to delivering early psychosis services using telehealth. Little is known about the experience of using telehealth in early psychosis services. This quality improvement qualitative project investigated the experiences of program participants and family members with telehealth services in OnTrackNY, an early intervention program for psychosis in New York State during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Functioning and quality of life among treatment-engaged adults with psychotic disorders in urban Tanzania: Baseline results from the KUPAA clinical trial.

Background: There is a treatment gap for those living with severe mental illnesses in low- and middle-income countries, yet not enough is known about those who are currently accessing clinical services. A better understanding of potentially modifiable factors associated with functioning and quality of life will help inform policies and programming.

Aims: To describe the functioning and quality of life for a psychiatric treatment-engaged population living with psychotic disorders in two urban areas of Tanzania, and to explore their respective correlates.

Leveraging Instagram to Engage Adolescents With Depression: The Use of Evidence-Based Brief Video Interventions.

Recent research underscores the vital role social media can play in enhancing mental health awareness and encouraging help-seeking behaviors among youth. Nevertheless, the inherent risks of social media highlight the need for the careful creation of safe, effective content. This editorial outlines our strategy of using crowdsourcing platforms to develop and refine video interventions before launching a targeted Instagram campaign featuring these evidence-based videos.

An open pilot trial of a behavioural intervention to reduce violence by young adults with early psychosis receiving treatment in an early intervention services setting: A protocol.

Aims: Despite the public health impact of violence among young adults with psychosis, behavioural interventions to reduce the risk of engaging in violence remain rare. For young adults with early psychosis, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)-based psychotherapy has efficacy in reducing impairment and improving functioning. However, no CBT-based intervention to reduce violence has been formally adapted for young adults with early psychosis.

Comparing brief video interventions to reduce public and self-stigma: Randomized control trial.

Aim: Stigma is a major mental healthcare barrier. This study compares the efficacy of two types of brief video interventions, targeting public and self-stigma, in reducing public stigma towards people living with psychosis. We hypothesized both interventions would similarly reduce public stigma and outperform the control group.

The role of income and emotional engagement in the efficacy of a brief help-seeking video intervention for essential workers.

Background: Recently we showed that a brief video-based intervention can improve openness to help-seeking and decrease treatment-related stigma among essential workers, particularly for female and Black individuals viewing demographically matched protagonists. The current randomized controlled trial explored two additional factors which may enhance the efficacy of this intervention: income level, known to be associated with help-seeking, and emotional engagement, which may enhance a person's ability to engage with the intervention. We hypothesized that income level and emotional engagement would correlate with changes in openness to help-seeking ("openness") and stigma.

Reimbursement for a Broader Array of Services in Coordinated Specialty Care for Early Psychosis.

Despite the growing evidence supporting the benefits of coordinated specialty care (CSC) for early psychosis, access to this multimodal, evidence-based program in the United States has been hindered by a lack of funding for core CSC services and activities. The recent approval of team-based reimbursement codes by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has the potential to fund substantially more CSC services for clients with insurance coverage that accepts the new team-based billing codes. This streamlined and more inclusive billing strategy may reduce administrative burden and support the financial viability of CSC programs.

Usability and Feasibility of the Antipsychotic Medication Decision Aid in a Community Program for First-Episode Psychosis.

Objective: Although antipsychotic medications are considered first-line treatment for psychosis, rates of discontinuation and nonadherence are high, and debate persists about their use. This pilot study aimed to explore the usability, feasibility, and potential impact of a shared decision making (SDM) intervention, the Antipsychotic Medication Decision Aid (APM-DA), for decisions about use of antipsychotic medications.

Methods: A pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted with 17 participants in a first-episode psychosis program.