The Impact of 8 Weeks of Digital Meditation Application and Healthy Eating Program on Work Stress...
StressPsychological5 moreThe aim of the present study is to test the effects of a digital meditation intervention and/or a healthy eating intervention in a sample of UCSF employees with overweight and obesity (BMI>=25kg/m2) who report mild to moderate stress. We will randomize UCSF employees to 8-weeks of a digital meditation intervention (using the commercially available application, Headspace), a healthy eating intervention, a digital meditation+healthy eating intervention, or a waitlist control condition.
Evaluation of an ACT and PBS Group for Parents and Education Staff
Intellectual Disabilities With Other Behavioral SymptomsAcceptance Processes4 moreParents and education staff who work with children with intellectual disabilities (ID) are known to be at a higher risk of experiencing psychological distress. This study evaluates whether a therapeutic group for parents and education staff who work with children with ID is effective in reducing psychological distress and if so, how it does this and who it works for. The group will include two components: an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) section and a section about positive behaviour support (PBS). ACT is a psychological therapy, the aim of which is to help people to live their lives based on what matters to them, whilst learning new ways of managing difficult thoughts and feelings. The PBS section aims to help participants to learn how to use positive strategies to reduce challenging behaviour. Both interventions have been shown to be effective on their own, but this study will examine if combining the two is helpful. Parents of children with ID and education staff who work closely with children with ID attending chosen schools or learning disability child and adolescent mental health services in NHS Lothian will be invited to participate in the study. The group will take place on three half days. Participants will complete questionnaires on the first and last day of the group and six weeks after it has finished. The questionnaires will be about psychological distress, confidence in caring for children with ID and seeing if the group changed how they cope with thoughts and feelings. Participants will also be invited to a focus group, which will think about if the intervention was helpful, and if so how it helped. If the group is effective, the investigators would hope to research the intervention in more depth with the aim of it being offered more widely in the future.
The Impact of 8 Weeks of a Digital Meditation Application on Work Stress
StressPsychological1 moreThe aim of this study is to test the effects of a digital meditation intervention in a sample UCSF employees who report mild to moderate stress. We will randomize UCSF employees to either 8-weeks of a digital meditation intervention (using the commercially available application Headspace) or a waitlist control condition.
Friendship Bench Adaptation to Improve Mental Health & HIV Care Engagement Outcomes Among PLWH and...
HIV InfectionsBehavioral Symptoms6 moreThis project will adapt and pilot a feasible and effective problem-solving therapy designed for low-resource settings to address common mental disorders like depression and anxiety - the Friendship Bench- in a Vietnamese population of individuals living with HIV who also have opiate use disorder. The Friendship Bench approach has the potential to make an important contribution to address CMDs and reduce barriers to HIV treatment success among people living with HIV (PLWH) with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), a critical population driving the HIV epidemic in Vietnam and many Southeast Asian countries. This proposal will generate critical evidence for designing a fully powered clinical trial to test the investigation team's adapted FB protocol in improving HIV, mental health, and drug use treatment outcomes for this vulnerable population.
Technology Enhanced Behavioral Activation Treatment for Substance Use
Substance-Related DisordersDepressive Disorder3 moreThe purpose of this study is to: test the effect of a smartphone enhanced LETS ACT (LETS ACT-SE) on frequency of substance use use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test the relationship between neuromarkers of reward sensitivity on frequency of substance use.
Transdiagnostic Group Intervention for Children With Behavior Problems
Behavioral SymptomsEmotional DisturbancesThis study fills a notable gap in the transdiagnostic literature by evaluating whether an evidence-based transdiagnostic treatment for emotional disorders such as the Unified Protocol for Children (UP-C) is effective for treating childhood behavior problems.
A Clinical Trial of Intravenous (IV) Ganaxolone in Women With Postpartum Depression
DepressionDepressive Disorder9 moreThis study will evaluate the Safety, Pharmacokinetics and Efficacy of IV Administration of Ganaxolone in Women with Postpartum Depression
Treatment of Behavioral Symptoms in Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's DiseasePsychosis1 moreThe optimal strategy for the treatment of behavioral complications in patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains unclear. The objective of this study is to evaluate the risk of relapse following discontinuation of haloperidol in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) with psychosis or agitation who respond to it. In Phase A of this study, AD outpatients with behavioral complications receive 20 weeks of open haloperidol treatment with an oral dose of 1-5 mg daily, titrated individually to achieve the optimal trade-off between efficacy and side effects. Responders to Phase A participate in Phase B, a 24-week continuation trial in which patients are randomized to continuation haloperidol or placebo. The primary outcome is the time to relapse of psychosis or behavioral disturbance.
Low-Dose Lithium for the Treatment of Behavioral Symptoms in Frontotemporal Dementia
Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD)Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a progressive neurodegenerative illness that affects the frontal and anterior temporal lobes of the brain. Changes in behavior, including agitation, aggression, and repetitive behaviors, are common symptoms in FTD. The investigators currently do not have good medications to treat these symptoms in FTD, and the medications the investigators use often have side effects. In this project, the investigators will test the use of low-dose lithium, compared to a placebo pill, for the treatment of behavioral symptoms in FTD. Lithium greatly reduces the behavioral symptoms of bipolar disorder, and many have found low-dose lithium to be well-tolerated in patients with dementia. Lithium appears to inhibit the creation of a protein involved in many cases of FTD called tau.
School Health Implementation Network: Eastern Mediterranean
Behavioral SymptomsBehavioral Problem8 moreBackground An estimated 10-20% of children globally are affected by a mental health problem. Child mental health has been identified as a priority issue by the World Health Organization's Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (WHO EMRO). Following consultations with international and regional experts and stakeholders, WHO EMRO developed an evidence-based School Mental Health Program (SMHP), endorsed by WHO EMRO member countries, including Pakistan. The federal and provincial health departments in Pakistan made recommendations for a phased implementation of the SMHP in a pilot district. In the formative phase of this program, a number of implementation challenges were identified by the stakeholders. Broadly, these included the need to operationalize and adapt the existing components of the intervention to the local context and to develop sustainable mechanisms for delivery of quality training and supervision. Informed by the results of a formative phase investigations, the SHINE scale-up research team adapted the SMHP (henceforth called Conventional SMHP or cSMHP) to address these implementation challenges. The enhanced version of the intervention is called Enhanced School Mental Health Program (eSMHP). Enhancements to cSMHP have occurred at two levels: A) Content enhancements, such as a collaborative care model for engaging parents/primary caregivers, strategies for teacher's wellbeing, and adaptation and operationalization of particular clinical intervention strategies and B) Technological enhancements which include adaptation of the training manual for delivery using an online training platform, and a 'Chat-bot' to aid the implementation of intervention strategies in classroom settings. Objectives The primary objective of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of eSMHP in reducing socio-emotional difficulties in school-going children, aged 8-13, compared to cSMHP in Gujar Khan, a rural sub-district of Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The secondary objectives are to compare the cost-effectiveness, acceptability, adoption, appropriateness (including cultural appropriateness), feasibility, penetration and sustainability of scaled-up implementation of eSMHP and cSMHP. It is hypothesized that eSMHP will prove to be both more effective and more scalable than cSMHP. Study population The research is embedded within the phased district level implementation of the cSMHP in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The study population will consist of children of both genders, aged 8-13 (n=960) with socio-emotional difficulties, studying in rural public schools of sub-district Gujar Khan in Rawalpindi. Design The proposed study design is a cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT), embedded within the conventional implementation of the SMHP. Following relevant ethics committees and regulatory approvals, 80 eligible schools, stratified by gender, will be randomized into intervention and control arms with a 1:1 allocation ratio. Following informed consent from the parent/ primary caregiver, children will be screened for socio-emotional difficulties using Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). 960 children scoring > 12 on the teacher-rated SDQ total difficulty scores and > 14 on the parent-rated SDQ total difficulty scores will be recruited and equally randomized into intervention and control arms (480 in each arm). Teachers in the intervention arm will receive training in eSMHP, whereas teachers in the active control will be trained in cSMHP. Trained teachers will deliver the program to children in their respective arms. Outcome measures Primary Outcome: The primary outcome is reduction in socio-emotional total difficulties scores, measured with the parent-rated SDQ, 9 months after commencing intervention delivery. Secondary Outcomes: Implementation data on acceptability, adoption, appropriateness (including cultural appropriateness), feasibility, penetration and sustainability outcomes will be collected from children, parents/primary caregivers, head teachers and teachers. In addition, data will be collected on self-reported Psychological Outcome Profiles (PSYCHLOPS)-KIDS to measure progress on psycho-social problems and wellbeing; annual academic performance; classroom absenteeism, stigmatizing experiences and parent-teacher interaction. Data on teachers' sense of efficacy and subjective well-being, and on the schools' psychosocial environment profile will be collected. All secondary outcome data will be collected at baseline and 9 months after commencing intervention delivery. Outcomes will be analyzed on an intention to treat basis. The role of various factors as potential mediators and moderators eSMHP effectiveness will be explored. Cost-effectiveness evaluation of SMHP shall be evaluated in terms of costs associated with implementation of eSMHP compared with cSMHP.