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The onset of schizophrenia occurs during a period critical for development of social relationships and functional independence. As such, interventions that target the early course of illness have the potential to stave off functional decline and restore functioning to pre-illness levels. In this entirely remote study, people with recent-onset schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) participated in a 12-week randomized controlled trial to determine the efficacy of PRIME (personalized real-time intervention for motivational enhancement), a mobile-based digital health intervention designed to improve motivation and quality of life. Participants were randomized into the PRIME (n = 22) or treatment-as-usual/waitlist (TAU/WL) condition (n = 21) and completed assessments at baseline, post-trial (12 wk), and for people in the PRIME condition, 3 months after the end of the trial. After 12-weeks, WL participants received PRIME, resulting in a total sample of 38 participants completing PRIME. In PRIME, participants worked towards self-identified goals with the support of a virtual community of age-matched peers with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders as well as motivation coaches. Compared to the WL condition, people in the PRIME condition had significantly greater improvements in self-reported depression, defeatist beliefs, self-efficacy, and a trend towards motivation/pleasure negative symptoms post-trial, and these improvements were maintained 3 months after the end of trial. We also found that people in the PRIME condition had significantly greater improvements in components of social motivation post-trial (anticipated pleasure and effort expenditure). Our results suggest that PRIME has the potential to be an effective mobile-based intervention for improving aspects of mood and motivation in young people with SSDs.

Objective Longitudinal studies have begun to clarify the phenotypic characteristics of adolescents and young adults at clinical high risk for psychosis. This 8-site randomized trial examined whether a 6-month program of family psychoeducation was effective in reducing the severity of attenuated positive and negative psychotic symptoms and enhancing functioning among individuals at high risk. Method Adolescents and young adults (mean 17.4±4.1 years) with attenuated positive psychotic symptoms, brief and intermittent psychosis, or genetic risk with functional deterioration were randomly assigned to 18 sessions of family-focused therapy for individuals at clinical high risk (FFT-CHR) in 6 months or 3 sessions of family psychoeducation (enhanced care, or EC). FFT-CHR included psychoeducation about early signs of psychosis, stress management, communication training, and problem-solving skills training, whereas EC focused on symptom prevention. Independent evaluators assessed participants at baseline and 6 months on positive and negative symptoms and social-role functioning. Results Of 129 participants, 102 (79.1%) were followed at 6 months. Participants in FFT-CHR showed greater improvements in attenuated positive symptoms over 6 months than participants in EC (F[1,97]=5.49, P=.02). Negative symptoms improved independently of psychosocial treatments. Changes in psychosocial functioning depended on age: participants over 19 years showed more role improvement in FFT-CHR, whereas participants between 16 and 19 years showed more role improvement in EC. The results were independent of concurrent pharmacotherapy. Conclusion Interventions that focus on improving family relationships may have prophylactic efficacy in individuals at high risk for psychosis. Future studies should examine the specificity of effects of family intervention compared to individual therapy of the same duration and frequency.

Nonconverting CHR cases represented a heterogeneous group. Given that nonconverted subjects who remitted symptomatically also presented initially with less severe prodromal symptomatology and showed a distinct normative trajectory of both symptoms and psychosocial functioning over time, it may be possible to refine the CHR criteria to reduce the number of "false positive" cases by eliminating those who present with less severe attenuated positive symptoms or show early improvements in terms of symptoms or functioning.

BackgroundDespite improvements in treating psychosis, schizophrenia remains a chronic and debilitating disorder that affects approximately 1% of the US population and costs society more than depression, dementia, and other medical illnesses across most of the lifespan. Improving functioning early in the course of illness could have significant implications for long-term outcome of individuals with schizophrenia. Yet, current gold-standard treatments do not lead to clinically meaningful improvements in outcome, partly due to the inherent challenges of treating a population with significant cognitive and motivational impairments. The rise of technology presents an opportunity to develop novel treatments that may circumvent the motivational and cognitive challenges observed in schizophrenia.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of implementing a Personalized Real-Time Intervention for Motivation Enhancement (PRIME), a mobile app intervention designed to target reward-processing impairments, enhance motivation, and thereby improve quality of life in recent onset schizophrenia, and (2) evaluate the empirical benefits of using an iterative, user-centered design (UCD) process.MethodsWe conducted two design workshops with 15 key stakeholders, followed by a series of in-depth interviews in collaboration with IDEO, a design and innovation firm. The UCD approach ultimately resulted in the first iteration of PRIME, which was evaluated by 10 RO participants. Results from the Stage 1 participants were then used to guide the next iteration that is currently being evaluated in an ongoing RCT. Participants in both phases were encouraged to use the app daily with a minimum frequency of 1/week over a 12-week period.ResultsThe UCD process resulted in the following feature set: (1) delivery of text message (short message service, SMS)-based motivational coaching from trained therapists, (2) individualized goal setting in prognostically important psychosocial domains, (3) social networking via direct peer-to-peer messaging, and (4) community “moments feed” to capture and reinforce rewarding experiences and goal achievements. Users preferred an experience that highlighted several of the principles of self-determination theory, including the desire for more control of their future (autonomy and competence) and an approach that helps them improve existing relationships (relatedness). IDEO, also recommended an approach that was casual, friendly, and nonstigmatizing, which is in line with the recovery model of psychosis. After 12-weeks of using PRIME, participants used the app, on average, every other day, were actively engaged with its various features each time they logged in and retention and satisfaction was high (20/20, 100% retention, high satisfaction ratings). The iterative design process lead to a 2- to 3-fold increase in engagement from Stage 1 to Stage 2 in almost each aspect of the platform.ConclusionsThese results indicate that the neuroscience-informed mobile app, P...

The current study examined the relationship between the family environment and symptoms and functioning over time in a group of adolescents and young adults at clinical high risk for psychosis (N = 63). The current study compared the ability of interview-based versus self-report ratings of the family environment to predict the severity of prodromal symptoms and functioning over time. The family environmental factors were measured by interviewer ratings of the Camberwell Family Interview (CFI), self-report questionnaires surveying the patient's perceptions of criticism and warmth, and parent reported perceptions of their own level of criticism and warmth. Patients living in a critical family environment, as measured by the CFI at baseline, exhibited significantly worse positive symptoms at 6-month follow-up, relative to patients living in a low-key family environment. In terms of protective effects, warmth and an optimal level of family involvement interacted such that the two jointly predicted improved functioning at 6-month follow-up. Overall, both interview-based and self-report ratings of the family environment were predictive of symptoms and functioning at follow-up; however patient's self-report ratings of criticism had stronger predictive power. These results suggest that the family environment should be a specific target of treatment for individuals at risk for psychosis.

Motivational impairment is a critical factor that contributes to functional disability in schizophrenia and undermines an individual’s ability to engage in and adhere to effective treatment. However, little is known about the developmental trajectory of deficits in motivation and whether these deficits are present prior to the onset of psychosis. We assessed several components of motivation including anticipatory versus consummatory pleasure (using the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale (TEPS)), and behavioral drive, behavioral inhibition, and reward responsivity (using the Behavioral Inhibition Scale/Behavioral Activation Scale (BIS/BAS)). A total of 234 participants completed study measures, including 60 clinical high risk (CHR) participants, 60 recent-onset schizophrenia participants (RO), 78 chronic schizophrenia participants (SZ) and 29 healthy controls (HC) age matched to the CHR group. CHR participants endorsed greater deficits in anticipatory pleasure and reward responsivity, relative to HC comparison participants and individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia. Motivational deficits were not more pronounced over the course of illness. Depressed mood was uniquely associated with impairments in motivation in the CHR sample, but not the schizophrenia participants. The results suggest that CHR individuals experience multiple contributors to impaired motivation, and thus multiple leverage points for treatment.

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