Development and Open Trial of a Technology-Enhanced Family Intervention for Adolescents at Risk for Mood Disorders

App-enhanced transdiagnostic CBT for adolescents with mood or psychotic spectrum disorders

“…Variable rates of treatment adherence are a significant limitation of CBTs, as the rates of homework adherence in adolescents average about 50% across sessions and typically decline over the course of treatment ( Gaynor et al, 2006 ; Simons et al, 2012 ). To address this therapeutic challenge, our group has sought to improve treatment adherence and clinical outcomes via mobile applications as adjuncts to psychotherapy among youth with mood disorders ( Miklowitz et al, 2021 ). Mobile health (mHealth) technologies have helped increase adherence to treatment tasks (e.g., skill-practice) in adolescents with mood and anxiety disorders ( Pramana et al, 2018 ; Wilansky et al, 2016 ).…”

Family‐focused therapy for individuals at high clinical risk for psychosis: A confirmatory efficacy trial

“…In both treatment conditions, CHR participants and at least one parent will be given login information and instructions for weekly use of the ‘MyCoachConnect’ mobile‐enhanced online app (Arevian et al, 2020; Miklowitz, Weintraub, et al, 2020). The app will send weekly push notifications asking probands to make ratings of positive and negative symptoms, mood, anxiety, family functioning, and social interactions; and Perceived Criticism from other members of the family.…”

“…Families can choose live sessions over telehealth, assuming pandemic restrictions do not dictate otherwise. In a prior study (Miklowitz, Weintraub, et al, 2020), the majority of families reported preferring telehealth over live sessions because of its greater convenience, especially for those who lived a considerable distance from the clinic. We do not know, however, whether FFT-CHR will be as effective with telehealth as with live sessions.…”

“…We have written previously about modifications of FFT for telehealth (Dausch et al, 2009), and previously implemented a telehealth version of FFT for youth at high risk for mood disorders (Miklowitz, Weintraub, et al, 2020). For UPLIFT, we made the following adaptations for videoconferencing: (1) families will be asked to choose a room with a good internet connection and a comfortable half-circle seating arrangement so members can look directly at each other (as well as at the therapist on-screen); (2) use of individual cell phones or tablets during the sessions will not be allowed unless they are needed for connecting to the session; (3) members will be discouraged from connecting to the session from different devices in different rooms, which tends to lead to dyadic conversations between the therapist and individual family members rather than between members.…”

Research Status in Clinical Practice Regarding Pediatric and Adolescent Bipolar Disorders

“…Moreover, for those children with high-risk BD and adolescents (children with prominent depression and mania symptoms, parents having mood disorders, and at least one parent showing high levels of criticism), FFT was confirmed to be effective and the interval time of depression was prolonged after 4-months of FFT ( 93 ). Meanwhile, after FFT, suicidal ideation significantly decreased, the interval time without suicidal behaviors was prolonged, and children-reported family conflicts decided the efficiency of FFT to suicidal ideation ( 94 ), clinically-related depression scores, and the frequency of perceived criticism from parents were also reduced ( 95 ). For high-risk children, FFT may therefore improve not only depression, hypomania, and psycho–social scores but also YMRS and CDRS scores ( 96 ).…”