The influence of complex psychiatric comorbidities on treatment for clinical high-risk for psychosis: A preliminary study.

Aim: Despite increasingly refined tools for identifying individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHR-P), less is known about the effectiveness of CHR-P interventions. The significant clinical heterogeneity among CHR-P individuals suggests that interventions may need to be personalized during this emerging illness phase. We examined longitudinal trajectories within-persons during treatment to investigate whether baseline factors predict symptomatic and functional outcomes.

Identification of Psychosis Risk and Diagnosis of First-Episode Psychosis: Advice for Clinicians.

Early detection of psychotic-spectrum disorders among adolescents and young adults is crucial, as the initial years after psychotic symptom onset encompass a critical period in which psychosocial and pharmacological interventions are most effective. Moreover, clinicians and researchers in recent decades have thoroughly characterized psychosis-risk syndromes, in which youth are experiencing early warning signs indicative of heightened risk for developing a psychotic disorder. These insights have created opportunities for intervention even earlier in the illness course, ideally culminating in the prevention or mitigation of psychosis onset.

ED Visits for Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders During the COVID-19 Pandemic at 5 Campus Health Systems.

Importance: Although substantial research has reported grave population-level psychiatric sequelae of the COVID-19 pandemic, evidence pertaining to temporal changes in schizophrenia spectrum disorders in the US following the pandemic remains limited.

Objective: To examine the monthly patterns of emergency department (ED) visits for schizophrenia spectrum disorders after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This observational cohort study used time-series analyses to examine whether monthly counts of ED visits for schizophrenia spectrum disorders across 5 University of California (UC) campus health systems increased beyond expected levels during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Symptomatic and Functional Outcomes Among Individuals at High Risk for Psychosis Participating in Step-Based Care.

Validated, multicomponent treatments designed to address symptoms and functioning of individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis are currently lacking. The authors report findings of a study with such individuals participating in step-based care-a program designed to provide low-intensity, non-psychosis-specific interventions and advancement to higher-intensity, psychosis-specific interventions only if an individual is not meeting criteria for a clinical response. Among individuals with symptomatic or functional concerns at enrollment, 67% met criteria for a symptomatic response (median time to response=11.

Metacognitive Skills Training and Computerized Cognitive Remediation among Individuals with First-Episode Psychosis: Influence on Social Cognition.

Background: Metacognitive skills training (MST) is often integrated into cognitive remediation programs for psychosis. Social cognition - the mental processes underlying social perception and behavior - is robustly related to outcomes in psychosis and is increasingly addressed with targeted treatments. Though metacognition and social cognition are related constructs, little is known about how MST may influence social cognition among individuals with psychosis participating in broad-based, non-social cognitive remediation.

Policy Complexities in Financing First Episode Psychosis Services: Implementation Realities from a Home Rule State.

Over the past decade, significant investments have been made in coordinated specialty care (CSC) models for first episode psychosis (FEP), with the goal of promoting recovery and preventing disability. CSC programs have proliferated as a result, but financing challenges imperil their growth and sustainability. In this commentary, the authors discuss (1) entrenched and emergent challenges in behavioral health policy of consequence for CSC financing; (2) implementation realities in the home rule context of Ohio, where significant variability exists across counties; and (3) recommendations to improve both care quality and access for individuals with FEP.

Costs of Coordinated Specialty Care for First-Episode Psychosis: A Microcosting Analysis.

In this study, the authors measured and described the costs of coordinated specialty care (CSC) for first-episode psychosis in Ohio. A microcosting tool was used to estimate personnel and nonpersonnel costs of service delivery at seven CSC programs. Average annual cost per participant (N=511 participants) was estimated as $17,810 (95% CI=$9,141-$26,479).

Discrepancies between self and caregiver perceptions of agency in first-episode psychosis.

Personal agency-a key element of recovery from psychotic disorders-is formed and maintained in large part through interactions with others. Interactions with caregivers are particularly important in first-episode psychosis (FEP), as these interactions form the foundations for lifelong caregiving relationships. The present study examined shared understandings of agency (operationalized as efficacy to manage symptoms and social behaviors) within families affected by FEP.

Promoting the Success and Sustainability of Coordinated Specialty Care Teams in Ohio.

Recent COVID-19-related federal legislation has resulted in time-limited increases in Mental Health Block Grant (MHBG) set-aside dollars for coordinated specialty care (CSC) throughout the United States. The state of Ohio has opted to apply these funds to establish a learning health network of Ohio CSC teams, promote efforts to expand access to CSC, and quantify the operating costs and rates of reimbursement from private and public payers for these CSC teams. These efforts may provide other states with a model through which they can apply increased MHBG funds to support the success of their own CSC programs.

An evaluation of the feasibility of implementing a novel tobacco dependence treatment program for high-risk individuals into clinical practice within a community mental health center.

Background: Individuals with serious mental illnesses experience deaths related to smoking at a higher prevalence than individuals without a psychotic-spectrum disorders. Traditional smoking cessation programs are often not effective among individuals with chronic mental disorders. Little is known about how to implement a tobacco cessation treatment program for this at-risk population within a community health center.

Social motivation and behavior in first-episode psychosis: Unique contributions to social quality of life and social functioning.

Social functioning is diminished among people early in the course of psychotic illnesses, and is likely influenced by the negative symptoms that accompany these disorders, including changes in motivation and experience of pleasure. Though social impairments have a deleterious impact on functioning, socialization is a multifaceted behavior and little is known about how the various aspects may influence social functioning and social quality of life among people with first-episode psychosis. In the present study, we investigated the associations of specific aspects of social motivation and behavior with social functioning and social quality of life in a group of 54 young people (aged 15 to 35) with first-episode psychosis.

Improvements in metacognition mediate the effect of metacognitive remediation therapy: A non-randomized controlled study among individuals with first-episode psychosis.

Aim: Metacognitive remediation therapy (MCR) has been shown to help individuals with first-episode psychosis experience improvements in cognition, social functioning, vocational/educational functioning and quality of life. The theoretical model underlying MCR has yet to be empirically validated.

Methods: Seventy-three individuals with first-episode psychosis completed measures of metacognition and cognition at enrollment and after 6-months of care at a specialized clinical program for individuals with first-episode psychosis.

An Open Trial of Metacognitive Remediation Therapy and Pharmacotherapy to Promote Smoking Cessation among Individuals with Psychotic-Spectrum Disorders.

Introduction: Individuals with psychotic-spectrum disorders may smoke due to the ameliorating effect of nicotine on the cognitive deficits that accompany these illnesses. Metacognitive remediation therapy (MCR) has been shown to produce improvements in cognitive functioning among individuals with psychotic-spectrum disorders and provides a foundation for a novel smoking cessation intervention for this population.

Aims: To complete an open investigation of pharmacotherapy and a modified version of MCR [MCR to Quit (MCR-Q)] in promoting smoking cessation among individuals with psychotic-spectrum disorders.

Cost Utility of cognition-enhancing interventions for individuals with first-episode psychosis: a naturalistic evaluation.

Background: Although effective treatments are available to address the cognitive deficits experienced by individuals with first-episode psychosis, provision of such treatments within Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC) programs is rare. One factor that may contribute to this is uncertainty about the cost implications of providing cognitive-enhancing treatments within the American mental healthcare system. The aim of this study is to complete a naturalistic evaluation of the cost utility of incorporating two different cognitive-enhancing interventions within an American CSC program.

Perceptions of smoking cessation and a novel psychosocial intervention for quitting among individuals with psychosis: A qualitative study.

Individuals diagnosed with psychosis have high rates of smoking-related morbidity and early mortality. Only a small proportion of these smokers will attempt to quit, and many existing cessation interventions have limited effectiveness. To explore the unique and potentially unmet cessation needs of individuals with psychosis, we sought first-person experiences with smoking cessation and reactions to a proposed intervention.

A pilot study of a brief inpatient social-skills training for young adults with psychosis.

Psychotic disorders are serious illnesses that are most amenable to early intervention. Though inpatient units are typically the first care setting for young people with psychosis, almost all early intervention work has been limited to outpatient settings. Social difficulties are a core feature of psychotic illnesses, and despite need for empirically supported social-skills treatments there are few interventions intended specifically for the developmental phase during which psychosis manifests (i.