Background: People with psychosis experience higher rates of childhood victimisation compared to the general population, which may impact on mental health and recovery. This study aimed to identify childhood victimisation profiles in a clinical sample to inform recommendations for routine care.
Methods: Participants were 146 adults (ages 19-65 years; M = 42.2) with schizophrenia-spectrum diagnoses reporting trauma. Childhood trauma was assessed using two retrospective measures, and a latent class analysis (LCA) was performed on four trauma types (sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse and neglect). Multinomial logistic regression investigated demographic differences between the classes.
Results: Four distinct childhood trauma classes were identified: Emotional abuse/neglect (n = 29); physical abuse (n = 14); sexual abuse (n = 19); and poly-victimisation (n = 84). There were no differences between the classes in terms of age, ethnicity, relationship status, education or current employment (relative risk (RR) = 0.85-1.27, p > 0.05). Participants in the poly-victimisation class were significantly more likely to be female (RR = 0.22-0.28, p < 0.04).
Discussion: Adults with psychosis, particularly females, are likely to report poly-victimisation in childhood. This highlights the need to comprehensively but concisely assess experiences of abuse and neglect in clinical care, in line with trauma-informed approaches.
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.
Methods: Individuals with first-episode psychosis who completed six months of metacognitive remediation (MCR; n=12) were compared to a historical control group who received six months of computerized cognition remediation (CCR; n=10) alone (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01570972).
Results: Though individuals receiving MCR experienced gains in emotion processing and theory of mind, these changes were not significantly different when compared to individuals receiving CCR. MST did not contribute to social cognitive change in the context of CCR.
Discussion: Though MST may be relevant to facilitating social cognitive gains within broader cognitive remediation programs for first-episode psychosis, these benefits are limited and may not exceed those conferred by standard cognitive remediation. Opportunities for investigation of other potential mechanisms of social cognitive response to interventions remain.
Background: Onset of psychosis commonly occurs in adolescence, and long-term prognosis can be poor. There is growing evidence, largely from adult cohorts, that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Psychosis (CBTp) and Family Interventions (FI) can play a role in managing symptoms and difficulties associated with psychosis. However, adolescents have distinct developmental needs that likely impact their engagement and response to talking therapy. There is limited guidance on adapting CBTp to meet the clinical needs of under-eighteens experiencing psychosis.
Method: This educational clinical practice article details learnings from therapists and supervisors working with young people (aged 14-18 years) with psychosis during the Managing Adolescent first-episode Psychosis: a feasibility Study (MAPS) randomised clinical treatment trial, supplemented by findings from nested qualitative interviews with young people receiving CBTp.
Results: Suggested are given for tailoring CBTp assessment, formulation and interventions to meet the developmental and clinical needs of adolescents with psychosis. Developmentally appropriate techniques and resources described.
Conclusions: Early indications from MAPS study indicate this developmentally tailored approach is an acceptable, safe and helpful treatment for young people with psychosis. Further research is needed to develop empirically grounded and evaluated CBTp for adolescents.