Comparison of experiences of stress and coping between young people at risk of psychosis and a non-clinical cohort.

Background: Although the experience of stress and associated coping responses are thought to play a role in the onset of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, there is little empirical evidence to support such a relationship. The relatively recent development of validated and reliable criteria for identifying young people at "ultra" high-risk (UHR) of psychosis has enabled the process of illness onset to be studied more closely than was previously possible.

Method: This longitudinal study compared the experiences of stress and coping between a UHR cohort (N=143) and a healthy comparison group (HC group, N=32).

Strategies used by psychotic individuals to cope with life stress and symptoms of illness: a systematic review.

Psychological models of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders suggest that poor coping responses to life stressors and to symptoms of illness is central to their development and maintenance and influences recovery. These models are widely accepted and inform psychological treatments for psychotic disorders. In this paper, 85 studies that explore how individuals with established psychotic disorders cope with symptoms associated with their illness, and with independent life events and stressors are comprehensively reviewed.

Stress and psychosis: towards the development of new models of investigation.

The experience of stress is commonly implicated in the onset and maintenance of psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Previous studies that have addressed this relationship have had mixed results and serious methodological flaws associated with study design are common. One central limitation is the over-reliance on the experience of life events as a measure of the experience of stress.

Early intervention for acute back injury: can we finally develop an evidence-based approach?

Objective: Several reviews of the treatment of acute low back pain have been published in the past and have formed the basis of clinical guidelines. However, these lack consistency in some areas and valid data in others. As the literature in this field has continued to expand, the present review was undertaken to establish whether the guidelines in current use are supported by more recently published, scientifically rigorous research, and whether additional consensus regarding treatment of acute low back injury has been forthcoming in recent years.