Active clinical trials for "Mental Disorders"

The overall aim of this study is to test the effect of academic detailing (i.e. provider-level educational intervention focused on evidence-based smoking cessation treatment for those with psychiatric illness) and community health worker (CHW) support on the provision and utilization of standard of care smoking cessation treatment to those with serious mental illness (SMI) and smoking cessation rates for adults with SMI who smoke.

This is a four year project evaluating the effectiveness of a group-based lifestyle intervention (PeerFIT) supported by mobile health (mHealth) technology and social media compared to Basic Education in fitness and nutrition supported by a wearable Activity Tracking device (BEAT) in achieving clinically significant improvements in weight loss and cardiorespiratory fitness in young adults with serious mental illness (SMI).

Maintenance of employment is dependent upon being able to successfully integrate into one's work setting. This can present a significant challenge to individuals with serious mental illness, as they typically exhibit impairment in their ability to accurately perceive and understand social exchanges. Presently the most established intervention is Social Cognition and Interaction Training (SCIT), a 12-week group intervention in which participants learn strategies to enhance emotion recognition and to assess the accuracy of their interpretation of social interactions. To enhance transfer of training gains to functional outcomes, participants will be paired with a social mentor to facilitate completion of homework and to ensure that skills are practiced outside of treatment (supported SCIT). The study will examine the impact of supported SCIT on social and work role functioning. The specific aims are: To assess the feasibility of providing supported SCIT to individuals with serious mental illness who are engaged in compensated work activity. To assess the impact of supported SCIT on social cognitive skills as well as work and social performance. To assess durability of intervention-induced change 3 months after the end of intervention. A single blind study will be conducted in which participants between 18-70 with serious mental illness (schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar disorder) are assigned to 12 weeks of supported SCIT. Intervention will consist of one 2-hour small group training sessions and 30 minutes of individualized supported practice of skills with a treatment facilitator weekly. Feasibility will be assessed with attendance at group and individual sessions. Baseline, post-intervention (3-month), and follow-up (6-month) assessments will measure social cognitive abilities and functional outcomes. Potentially confounding variables such as symptom severity and outside treatment hours will also be assessed. It is hypothesized that supported SCIT will be completed by at least 75% of veterans. The intervention is predicted to improve social cognitive skills and social and work performance. Training gains are expected to be sustained 3 months after intervention.

This 16-week placebo-control study looks to investigate whether patients with schizophrenia for two years or less may benefit from omega-3 supplements.

Treatment delay in psychosis usually lead to slower recovery, an increase in associated comorbidity and greater deterioration in social and family life of patients. Previous studies indicate that an early intervention with guidelines for increasing adherence to treatment, disease awareness and condition management leads to better progression of the disorder and is therefore related to a better prognosis. Several studies have found that the rate of relapse is higher in patients with pharmacological treatment alone compared to those also receiving psychoeducation, who tend to improve their adherence to treatment and reduce toxic drugs dosage. Hypotheses: Individual psychoeducation will be effective as complementary therapy to pharmacological treatment in patients with a first psychotic episode, improving disease evolution. BDNF levels will increase more in the patients receiving individual therapy compared to those without it. Psychoeducation can be performed similarly in all participating centers if the therapists receive the same training and use the same psychoeducation material. The use of telemedicine for the follow-up of the patients will help improve the welfare work and therefore the disease evolution.

This Stage II randomized trial tests Culturally Informed & Flexible Family Based Treatment for Adolescents (CIFFTA) developed as part of a Stage I treatment development effort and yielding promising preliminary findings. Drug use rates are highest among Hispanic middle school youth and to date no treatments have met criteria for "Well Established" in the treatment of substance abuse in Hispanic adolescents. Further treatment for Hispanic youth and families is complicated by the fact that these families often differ from mainstream populations in culture-related values, beliefs and behaviors that can directly impact engagement, retention, and efficacy/effectiveness of drug treatment. Our efforts to develop a more powerful treatment capable of addressing these issues began with a Stage 1 study that led to the development of a multi-component treatment that includes a flexible manual that allows treatment tailoring to the unique characteristics of individual families. CIFFTA integrates innovative culturally-based, individually-based, and family-based components to: 1) reduce maladaptive family processes (e.g., poor parenting practices, family conflict) and increase family protective factors (e.g., strong parent-child attachment), 2) teach adolescents skills to effectively manage interpersonal conflicts and stressors and to increase motivation to change, 3) deliver psycho-educational and culturally congruent material (e.g., modules on immigration stressors) to youth and parents both separately and together, and 4) deliver the intervention using a flexible treatment manual that allows the clinician to tailor the treatment (e.g., by selecting the most relevant psycho-educational modules and themes) to the unique characteristics and needs of the Hispanic family. This Stage II randomized trial randomizes 220 Hispanic adolescents ages 14-17 who meet DSM-IV criteria for Substance Abuse to a 4-month treatment of either CIFFTA or Traditional Family Therapy. The study tests CIFFTA's efficacy in impacting drug use, risky sexual behavior, and other severe behavior problems, and hypothesized mechanisms of change, in a larger and more rigorous Stage II trial. Assessments occur at baseline, 4 months post baseline (end of treatment), 10 months post baseline and 16 months post baseline. Should this line of research continue to be successful, it has the potential to contribute to the field a highly innovative and efficacious treatment for Hispanic drug abusing adolescents, a better understanding of mechanisms of treatment efficacy, and also a framework for future flexible and tailored treatments that can be used to better address the unique needs of other special populations.

Building on the recent advances in telephone supported care, clinical monitoring, and outreach work, the specific aims of the study are to: Develop RecoveryTrack™- ExtendedCare (RT-E), a modified/new version of RecoveryTrack™. The investigators will adapt and finalize the original Web-based RT system, manual, and training to accommodate use by counselors for clients who are no longer attending Outpatient (OP) treatment. Conduct a pilot study to determine the preliminary efficacy of RT-E compared to treatment as usual (TAU) for clients entering Intensive Outpatient (IOP) substance abuse treatment (SAT). In this randomized clinical trial, it is hypothesized that RT-E will positively impact treatment attendance and substance use outcomes. In exploratory analyses, the investigators will also evaluate the comparative impact of RT-E versus TAU on HIV related client behaviors. Evaluate feasibility and counselor and client acceptability of RT-E. Conduct preliminary cost and cost effectiveness analyses comparing RT-E to TAU. Hypothesis 1: RT-E clients will attend more days of OP treatment than TAU clients. The investigators will compare the two groups on monthly treatment attendance for months 1 through 9. We expect a main effect of group with RT-E clients displaying more attendance than TAU clients. Hypothesis 2: RT-E clients will have higher rates of abstinence than TAU clients. The investigators will compare abstinence rates at months 3, 6, and 9. Abstinence is a binary variable based on both biological test results and self-reported substance use from the Addiction Severity Index, Version 6 (ASI6). We expect a main effect of group with RT-E clients displaying higher rates of abstinence than TAU clients. Secondary Analyses: HIV Risk Scores: The investigators will compare the two groups' Risk Assessment Battery (RAB) HIV risk scores (i.e., total, sex, drug) at month 9. Use of HIV specialist services: Client attendance charts will be reviewed to compare the two groups on the number of times clients met with a program HIV Specialist at month 9. Multidimensional Outcomes: The investigators will compare RT-E and TAU clients on multidimensional outcomes using ASI6 summary scores at months 3, 6, and 9.

Improvement of clinical long-term outcome through the implementation of early detection and intervention within a specialized network of integrated care (ACT and hometreatment) for adolescents and young adults with a first episode of psychosis between 12 and 29 years.

There is a substantial need for enhancing the efficacy and effectiveness of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) inpatient services for psychosis and tailoring them to support recovery. The proposed pilot study will explore whether Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a recovery-oriented, evidence-based inpatient treatment, is a feasible, acceptable, safe, and effective adjunct for the inpatient treatment of Veterans with psychosis at a single VHA site. Additionally, an evaluation of barriers and facilitators to future implementation will be conducted. If promising, the data gained from the proposed study will support future evaluation, implementation and dissemination efforts that have the potential to improve inpatient treatment for psychosis and recovery, and thus, the lives of Veterans, while reducing costs for VHA.

The guiding questions for this study are: can a U.S. adaptation of a successful Scandinavian approach (TIPS) to early detection substantially reduce the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) and improve outcomes beyond an established first-episode service (FES)? The primary aim of this study is: To determine whether an early detection intervention can reduce DUP in the US, as compared to usual detection. Early detection (ED) will be implemented in one US community (New Haven, CT), and usual detection efforts will continue in another (Boston, MA). DUP will be measured at admission to the corresponding first-episode services (STEP & PREP) in each community, over one year before and throughout ED implementation. The investigators hypothesize that DUP will be reduced significantly in the early detection site compared to the usual detection site; A secondary aim is to determine whether DUP reduction can augment the outcomes of established FES on outcomes in the U.S. The investigators will measure symptoms, functioning and engagement with treatment at entry and over 1 year at each site. The investigators hypothesize that shorter DUP at one FES (STEP) will predict reduced distress and illness severity at entry and better early outcomes at STEP compared to PREP.