Durability of the effects of cognitive–behavioural therapy in the treatment of chronic schizophrenia: 12-month follow-up

1999 ◽  
Vol 174 (6) ◽  
pp. 500-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Tarrier ◽  
Anja Witttkowskj ◽  
Caroline Kinney ◽  
Eilis McCarthy ◽  
Juue Morris ◽  
...  

BackgroundPersistent drug-resistant psychotic symptoms are a pervasive problem in the treatment of schizophrenia.AimsTo evaluate the durability of the treatment effects of cognitive–behavioural therapy for chronic schizophrenia one year after treatment termination.MethodA comparison of clinical outcomes was made at one-year follow-up from a randomised trial of cognitive–behavioural therapy, supportive counselling and routine care alone in the treatment of chronic schizophrenia.ResultsSeventy out of the 72 patients (97%) who completed treatment were assessed at follow-up. There were significant differences between the three groups when positive and negative symptoms were analysed by means of ANCOVAs. Between-group comparisons indicated significant differences between cognitive–behavioural therapy and routine care at follow-up for positive symptoms. There was a trend towards significance for both cognitive–behavioural therapy and supportive counselling to be superior to routine care alone on negative symptoms.ConclusionsAt 12-month follow-up the significant advantage of cognitive– behavioural therapy compared to routine care alone remained.

2005 ◽  
Vol 186 (4) ◽  
pp. 324-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucia R. Valmaggia ◽  
Mark van der Gaag ◽  
Nicholas Tarrier ◽  
Marieke Pijnenborg ◽  
Cees J. Slooff

BackgroundThere is increasing evidence that cognitive–behavioural therapy can be an effective intervention for patients experiencing drug-refractory positive symptoms of schizophrenia.AimsTo investigate the effects of cognitive–behavioural therapy on in-patients with treatment-refractory psychotic symptoms.MethodManualised therapy was compared with supportive counselling in a randomised controlled study. Both interventions were delivered by experienced psychologists over 16 sessions of treatment. Therapy fidelity was assessed by two independent raters. Participants underwent masked assessment at baseline, after treatment and at 6 months' follow-up. Main outcome measures were the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and the Psychotic Symptoms Rating Scale. The analysis was by intention to treat.ResultsParticipants receiving cognitive–behavioural therapy had improved with regard to auditory hallucinations and illness insight at the post-treatment assessment, but these findings were not maintained at follow-up.ConclusionsCognitive–behavioural therapy showed modest short-term benefits over supportive counselling for treatment-refractory positive symptoms of schizophrenia.


2002 ◽  
Vol 181 (S43) ◽  
pp. s91-s97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shôn Lewis ◽  
Nicholas Tarrier ◽  
Gillian Haddock ◽  
Richard Bentall ◽  
Peter Kinderman ◽  
...  

BackgroundCognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) improves persistent psychotic symptoms.AimsTo test the effectiveness of added CBT in accelerating remission from acute psychotic symptoms in early schizophrenia.MethodA 5-week CBT programme plus routine care was compared with supportive counselling plus routine care and routine care alone in a multi-centre trial randomising 315 people with DSM–IV schizophrenia and related disorders in their first (83%) or second acute admission. Outcome assessments were blinded.ResultsLinear regression over 70 days showed predicted trends towards faster improvement in the CBT group. Uncorrected univariate comparisons showed significant benefits at 4 but not 6 weeks for CBTv. routine care alone on Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale total and positive sub-scale scores and delusion score and benefits v. supportive counselling for auditory hallucinations score.ConclusionsCBT shows transient advantages over routine care alone or supportive counselling in speeding remission from acute symptoms in early schizophrenia.


2001 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Tarrier ◽  
Caroline Kinney ◽  
Ellis McCarthy ◽  
Anja Wittkowski ◽  
Lawrence Yusupoff ◽  
...  

Results are presented from a randomized controlled trial indicating which psychotic symptoms respond to cognitive behaviour therapy. The aim of the study was to investigate whether different types of psychotic symptoms are more or less responsive to cognitive-behaviour therapy compared to treatment received by control groups. Seventy-two patients suffering from chronic schizophrenia who experienced persistent positive psychotic symptoms were assessed at baseline and randomized to either cognitive-behaviour therapy and routine care, supportive counselling and routine care, or routine care alone and were re-assessed after 3 months of treatment (post-treatment). Independent and blind assessment of outcome indicated delusions significantly improved with both cognitive behaviour therapy and supportive counselling compared to routine care. Hallucinations significantly decreased with cognitive-behaviour therapy compared to supportive counselling. There was no difference in the percentage change of hallucinations compared to delusions in patients treated by cognitive behaviour therapy. There was little change in measures of affective symptoms but there was no evidence that a reduction in positive symptoms was associated with an increase in depres sion. In fact, a reduction in positive symptoms was positively correlated with a reduction in depression. There were significant differences in the reductions in thought disorder and negative symptoms with an advantage of cognitive-behaviour therapy compared to routine care.


2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Thomas ◽  
Susan Rossell ◽  
John Farhall ◽  
Frances Shawyer ◽  
David Castle

Background: Cognitive behavioural therapy has been established as an effective treatment for residual psychotic symptoms but a substantial proportion of people do not benefit from this treatment. There has been little direct study of predictors of outcome, particularly in treatment targeting auditory hallucinations. Method: The Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales (PSYRATS) and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) were administered pre- and post-therapy to 33 people with schizophrenia-related disorders receiving CBT for auditory hallucinations in a specialist clinic. Outcome was compared with pre-therapy measures of insight, beliefs about the origin of hallucinations, negative symptoms and cognitive disorganization. Results: There were significant improvements post-treatment on the PSYRATS and PANSS Positive and General Scales. Improvement on the PSYRATS was associated with lower levels of negative symptoms, but was unrelated to overall insight, delusional conviction regarding the origins of hallucinations, or levels of cognitive disorganization. Conclusions: Lack of insight and presence of formal thought disorder do not preclude effective cognitive-behavioural treatment of auditory hallucinations. There is a need to further understand why negative symptoms may present a barrier to therapy.


Author(s):  
N. Melchionda ◽  
L. Besteghi ◽  
S. Di Domizio ◽  
F. Pasqui ◽  
C. Nuccitelli ◽  
...  

BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Hayward ◽  
Katherine Berry ◽  
Stephen Bremner ◽  
Anna-Marie Jones ◽  
Sam Robertson ◽  
...  

Background Cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) is recommended for all patients with psychosis, but is offered to only a minority. This is attributable, in part, to the resource-intensive nature of CBT for psychosis. Responses have included the development of CBT for psychosis in brief and targeted formats, and its delivery by briefly trained therapists. This study explored a combination of these responses by investigating a brief, CBT-informed intervention targeted at distressing voices (the GiVE intervention) administered by a briefly trained workforce of assistant psychologists. Aims To explore the feasibility of conducting a randomised controlled trial to evaluate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of the GiVE intervention when delivered by assistant psychologists to patients with psychosis. Method This was a three-arm, feasibility, randomised controlled trial comparing the GiVE intervention, a supportive counselling intervention and treatment as usual, recruiting across two sites, with 1:1:1 allocation and blind post-treatment and follow-up assessments. Results Feasibility outcomes were favourable with regard to the recruitment and retention of participants and the adherence of assistant psychologists to therapy and supervision protocols. For the candidate primary outcomes, estimated effects were in favour of GiVE compared with supportive counselling and treatment as usual at post-treatment. At follow-up, estimated effects were in favour of supportive counselling compared with GiVE and treatment as usual, and GiVE compared with treatment as usual. Conclusions A definitive trial of the GiVE intervention, delivered by assistant psychologists, is feasible. Adaptations to the GiVE intervention and the design of any future trials may be necessary.


2004 ◽  
Vol 184 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Tarrier ◽  
Shôn Lewis ◽  
Gillian Haddock ◽  
Richard Bentall ◽  
Richard Drake ◽  
...  

BackgroundThe initial phase of a trial of cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) for acutely ill patients with schizophrenia of recent onset showed that it speeded recovery.AimsTo test the hypothesis that CBT in addition to treatment as usual (TAU) during the first or second acute episode of schizophrenia will confer clinical benefit over a follow-up period.MethodThis was an 18-month follow-up of a multicentre prospective trial of CBT or supportive counselling administered as an adjunct to TAU, compared with TAU alone, for patients hospitalised for an acute episode of schizophrenia of recent onset. Primary outcomes were total and positive symptom scales, time to relapse and re-hospitalisation.ResultsThere were significant advantages for CBT and supportive counselling over TAU alone on symptom measures at 18 months but no group difference was seen for relapse or re-hospitalisation. There was a significant centre–treatment interaction, reflecting centre differences in the effect of introducing either treatment, but not in the comparison of CBT and supportive counselling. Medication dosage and compliance did not explain group differences.ConclusionsAdjunctive psychological treatments can have a beneficial longterm effect on symptom reduction.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. e1001-e1001 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Mason ◽  
E Peters ◽  
S C Williams ◽  
V Kumari

Abstract Little is known about the psychobiological mechanisms of cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp) and which specific processes are key in predicting favourable long-term outcomes. Following theoretical models of psychosis, this proof-of-concept study investigated whether the long-term recovery path of CBTp completers can be predicted by the neural changes in threat-based social affective processing that occur during CBTp. We followed up 22 participants who had undergone a social affective processing task during functional magnetic resonance imaging along with self-report and clinician-administered symptom measures, before and after receiving CBTp. Monthly ratings of psychotic and affective symptoms were obtained retrospectively across 8 years since receiving CBTp, plus self-reported recovery at final follow-up. We investigated whether these long-term outcomes were predicted by CBTp-led changes in functional connections with dorsal prefrontal cortical and amygdala during the processing of threatening and prosocial facial affect. Although long-term psychotic symptoms were predicted by changes in prefrontal connections during prosocial facial affective processing, long-term affective symptoms were predicted by threat-related amygdalo-inferior parietal lobule connectivity. Greater increases in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex connectivity with amygdala following CBTp also predicted higher subjective ratings of recovery at long-term follow-up. These findings show that reorganisation occurring at the neural level following psychological therapy can predict the subsequent recovery path of people with psychosis across 8 years. This novel methodology shows promise for further studies with larger sample size, which are needed to better examine the sensitivity of psychobiological processes, in comparison to existing clinical measures, in predicting long-term outcomes.


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