New study suggests that people with carers respond better to CBT
Previous research has demonstrated that family intervention reduces relapse rates in psychosis. It is also known that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) improves the positive symptoms of psychosis, such as delusions and hallucinations. However, it is not know what effect CBT has on relapse rates.
A study recently published in the British Journal of Psychiatry assessed the effect of CBT and family intervention on relapse rates, symptom improvement, and coping in people with psychosis who had recently relapsed.
The study found that:
- CBT and family intervention had no effect on rates of remission and relapse, or on number of days in hospital.
- CBT had a beneficial effect on depressive symptoms.
- In a subgroup of participants with carers, CBT significantly improved delusional distress and social functioning.
Interestingly, response to CBT was better in participants with carers than those without carers. This finding has not noted elsewhere in the literature, and it raises intriguing questions about how the involvement of carers might facilitate improvements in response to CBT (and perhaps other talking treatments).
The researchers note that “the effect of carers both on symptoms and on response to psychological interventions warrants further investigation.”
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