NCT05809193

Investigation of the Effects of Family-Focused Therapy in the Early Period of Bipolar Disorder and Psychotic Disorder

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 20 (actual)
• Sponsor: Dokuz Eylul University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 15 Years – 21 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Family-focused therapy (FFT) is a comprehensive therapy approach applied to individuals and their families. In the present study, the researchers aimed to investigate the effects of family-focused therapy (FFT) in the early stages of psychotic disorder and bipolar disorder, regarding the psychiatric symptomatology, family communication skills, coping capacities, family burden and quality of life. A total of 34 young people diagnosed with bipolar disorder (BD) and 17 psychotic disorders (PD) will be included in the study.

Detailed description

In this study, the researcher's primary goal is to investigate the effects of family-focused therapy sessions on young people aged between 15 and 21. Subjects were referred to an early intervention center for psychotic and bipolar disorders. The target population of the study consists of the patients in remission after the episode of the illness. Therapy sessions will be conducted in line with the manual for "Family Focused Therapy for High-Risk Adolescents and Young Adults for Bipolar Disorder or Psychosis" revised by Miklowitz et al. in 2018. FFT will be completed in nine sessions. The first module of the program consists of three sessions, which consists of group psychoeducation for the patients and families. The second and third modules also include three sessions in each to teach communication skills and problem-solving skills in individual therapy sessions including patients and their families. Sessions will be held once a week and completed in nine weeks. Within the scope of this program, non-therapist clinicians will evaluate the participants' symptoms, psychosocial functioning, insight, and treatment compliance before and after the therapy sessions. There are only a few previous studies investigating the effects of family therapy in early stages of bipolar disorder and psychotic disorder. According to the literature, no prior study compares the effects of FFT between BD and PD populations. This study is important in terms of developing effective strategies for management of psychosocial difficulties in early phases of BD and PDs.

Conditions

• Mental Disorder in Adolescence
• Bipolar Disorder
• Psychosis
• Family Relations

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Family-Focused Therapy	After the patient and family are informed, they are included in the therapy group on a voluntary basis. After evaluation by independent evaluators, therapy sessions are started by therapists. Session 1: Goal Setting, Treatment Overview, Symptoms, Vulnerability Stress Model Session 2: Stress and Coping Skills, Regulation of sleep habits, Relaxation exercises Session 3: Optimizing Family Support; Prevention Plan, Medication adherence Session 4: Overview of Communication Skills; Expressing Positive Feelings, Active Listening Session 5: Making Positive Requests for Change, Communication Clarity Session 6: Expressing Negative Feelings Session 7: Introduction to Problem Solving Skills Session 8 and 9: Problem Solving Skills, Termination of Treatment The same psychometric assessment will be repeated before and after FFT. Intra-group comparisons will be made. Also study groups will be compared using time by group interactions to investigate the differences in therapy response.

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-04-01
• Primary completion: 2023-10-01
• Completion: 2023-12-31
• First posted: 2023-04-12
• Last updated: 2024-06-11

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Turkey (Türkiye)