Accelerating Medicines Partnership® Schizophrenia (AMP® SCZ): Rationale and Study Design of the Largest Global Prospective Cohort Study of Clinical High Risk for Psychosis.

This article describes the rationale, aims, and methodology of the Accelerating Medicines Partnership® Schizophrenia (AMP® SCZ). This is the largest international collaboration to date that will develop algorithms to predict trajectories and outcomes of individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis and to advance the development and use of novel pharmacological interventions for CHR individuals. We present a description of the participating research networks and the data processing analysis and coordination center, their processes for data harmonization across 43 sites from 13 participating countries (recruitment across North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, and South America), data flow and quality assessment processes, data analyses, and the transfer of data to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Data Archive (NDA) for use by the research community.

The self, neuroscience and psychosis study: Testing a neurophenomenological model of the onset of psychosis.

Aim: Basic self disturbance is a putative core vulnerability marker of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. The primary aims of the Self, Neuroscience and Psychosis (SNAP) study are to: (1) empirically test a previously described neurophenomenological self-disturbance model of psychosis by examining the relationship between specific clinical, neurocognitive, and neurophysiological variables in UHR patients, and (2) develop a prediction model using these neurophenomenological disturbances for persistence or deterioration of UHR symptoms at 12-month follow-up.

Methods: SNAP is a longitudinal observational study.

A randomised controlled trial of a psychoeducational group intervention for family and friends of young people with borderline personality disorder features.

Objective: Preliminary evidence indicates that interventions designed to support family and friends ('carers') of young people with early-stage borderline personality disorder effectively improve carer outcomes. None of these interventions have been tested in a randomised controlled trial.

Method: This clustered, partially nested, randomised controlled trial was conducted at Orygen, Melbourne, Australia.

Effect of 3 Forms of Early Intervention for Young People With Borderline Personality Disorder: The MOBY Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Clinical trials have neither focused on early intervention for psychosocial impairment nor on the contribution of components of borderline personality disorder (BPD) treatment beyond individual psychotherapy.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of 3 early interventions for BPD of differing complexity.

Design, Settings, And Participants: This single-blinded randomized clinical trial recruited young people between March 17, 2011, and September 30, 2015, into parallel groups.

A comparison of experiences of care and expressed emotion among caregivers of young people with first-episode psychosis or borderline personality disorder features.

Objective: Caregivers of individuals with severe mental illness often experience significant negative experiences of care, which can be associated with higher levels of expressed emotion. Expressed emotion is potentially a modifiable target early in the course of illness, which might improve outcomes for caregivers and patients. However, expressed emotion and caregiver experiences in the early stages of disorders might be moderated by the type of severe mental illness.

A protocol for the first episode psychosis outcome study (FEPOS): ≥15 year follow-up after treatment at the Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre, Melbourne, Australia.

Background: Specialist early intervention (SEI) service models are designed to treat symptoms, promote social and vocational recovery, prevent relapse, and resource and up-skill patients and their families. The benefits of SEI over the first few years have been demonstrated. While early recovery can be expected to translate to better long-term outcomes by analogy with other illnesses, there is limited evidence to support this from follow-up studies.

A Comparison of Adolescent versus Young Adult Outpatients with First-Presentation Borderline Personality Disorder: Findings from the MOBY Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: The increasing focus on adolescent personality disorder has tended to ignore evidence of the developmental continuity of the period from puberty to young adulthood. This study aims to: (1) describe the characteristics of a sample of young people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) who had no previous history of evidence-based treatment for the disorder and (2) compare their characteristics by participant age group.

Methods: One hundred and thirty-nine young people (15 to 25 years) with BPD, newly enrolled in the Monitoring Outcomes of BPD in Youth randomized controlled trial, completed semi-structured interview and self-report measures assessing demographic, clinical, and functional characteristics.

Evaluation of a culturally sensitive social and emotional well-being program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

Objective: To evaluate Deadly Thinking, a social and emotional well-being promotion program targeted to remote and rural Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Deadly Thinking aims to improve emotional health literacy, psychological well-being and attitudes towards associated help-seeking.

Design: Participants completed pre/post-test evaluations via a brief self-report survey immediately before and after the Deadly Thinking workshop.

A study comparing the experiences of family and friends of young people with borderline personality disorder features with family and friends of young people with other serious illnesses and general population adults.

Background: Family and friends ('carers') of adults with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and carers of young people with other serious illnesses experience significant adversity but research on the experiences of caring for a young person with BPD features is sparse. This study aimed to: (i) describe the experiences of carers of young people with BPD features; (ii) compare them with published data assessing carers of young people with other serious illnesses and with adults from the general population.

Methods: Eighty-two carers (M age = 44.

Aripiprazole compared with placebo for auditory verbal hallucinations in youth with borderline personality disorder: Protocol for the VERBATIM randomized controlled trial.

Aim: Up to half of patients with borderline personality disorder report auditory verbal hallucinations that are phenomenologically indistinguishable from those in schizophrenia, occur early in the course of the disorder, and are enduring, distressing and disabling. In clinical practice, this symptom is widely assumed to be unresponsive to treatment with antipsychotic medication and early intervention is rarely offered. The Verbal Experiences Response in Borderline personality disorder to Aripiprazole TrIal Medication (VERBATIM) study aims to be the first controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of conventional pharmacotherapy for this symptom in this patient group.

A psychoeducational group intervention for family and friends of youth with borderline personality disorder features: protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Caring for a person with borderline personality disorder is associated with poor outcomes including elevated psychological distress and burden. This study will compare the effectiveness of two brief psychoeducational programs for carers of youth presenting for early intervention for borderline personality disorder features. The protocol for this study is presented here.

Aged Care Assessment Service practitioners: a review of current practice for assessment of cognition of older people of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in Victoria.

Aim: This paper describes current practices and gaps identified by Aged Care Assessment Service (ACAS) clinicians in the assessment of cognition of clients of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) background in Victoria.

Method: A web-based survey, exploring practices and challenges faced by clinicians in assessing CALD clients and their families, was sent to all Victorian ACAS managers to distribute to their teams. Three focus groups were also conducted with ACAS clinicians to further explore these issues.

Help seeking in older Asian people with dementia in Melbourne: using the Cultural Exchange Model to explore barriers and enablers.

The prevalence of dementia is increasing in Australia. Limited research is available on access to Cognitive Dementia and Memory Services (CDAMS) for people with dementia from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities. This study aimed to determine the barriers and enablers to accessing CDAMS for people with dementia and their families of Chinese and Vietnamese backgrounds.

Scoping the ethics of dementia research within an Australian human research context.

Research with people with dementia can be ethically challenging because of the effects of dementia on cognitive function. A narrative literature review of ethical human dementia research was conducted, highlighting ethical challenges that can be categorised under the following themes: substitute judgment; how capacity can vary due to risks; barriers to recruiting people with dementia; how to determine capacity to give consent; and gaining assent rather than consent from participants. The results of the review were further analysed in relation to the Australian National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (National Statement).