Pilot Study of a Cognitive–Behavioral Group Intervention to Prevent Further Weight Gain in Hispanic Individuals With Schizophrenia

Chronic irritability is a core feature of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD), but few irritability-specific interventions have been tested. Existing evidence-based treatments for disruptive behavior problems offer a strong template. This pilot study was conducted to develop and evaluate a brief irritability-specific module of a validated cognitive-behavioral group intervention for children (Stop Now And Plan (SNAP) Program). Stop now and plan for irritability (I-SNAP) retained core elements of SNAP in a shortened 6-week format. Community families with irritable children ( M = 8.44 years, SD = 1.42) were recruited for parent and child emotion regulation skills groups. Of 18 children enrolled (72% male), 14 completed (78%). Half of children attended all six sessions, though homework compliance was lower. All parents reported favorable impressions and would recommend I-SNAP to others. Significant improvements were seen from pre- to post-treatment across parent-reported irritability, ODD symptoms, emotion regulation, and disciplinary effectiveness. This pilot study provides initial support suggesting I-SNAP may be feasible to implement and acceptable to parents. In addition, pilot analyses demonstrated that this brief group intervention was associated with positive outcomes consistent with treatment targets. This preliminary evidence supports the need for further research to assess I-SNAP’s effects on irritability relative to control groups.

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Designing and revising a cognitive behavioral group intervention for psychological distress among female university students

Journal of Nursing Education and Practice ◽

10.5430/jnep.v8n3p64 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 64 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Johanna Bernhardsdottir ◽

Marga Thome ◽

Ingela Skärsäter ◽

Jane Dimmitt Champion

Keyword(s):

Psychological Distress ◽

University Students ◽

Group Intervention ◽

Expert Panel ◽

Cognitive Behavioral ◽

Psychiatric Nurses ◽

Intervention Design ◽

Advanced Practice ◽

Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy ◽

Behavioral Group

Background: Psychological distress in the form of depression and/or anxiety has been found to be common among university students, especially in females. Roughly one in five of Icelandic female university students exhibit elevated psychological distress, yet less than 30% of them do receive professional mental health care. To ameliorate the psychological distress a cognitive behavioral group therapy was designed to target the distress. The purpose of this paper is to describe the main steps in designing the respective intervention and the revisions made by the expert panel based on the validation of the preliminary intervention and the experience of the advanced practice psychiatric nurses therapists.Methods: The intervention design took place in four phases. Initially psychological distress was defined, secondly a literature review was conducted to see if there were effective interventions available to solve the problem. Thirdly the drafting of the intervention took place based on theory and evidence and finally the intervention was validated with quantitative and qualitative methods. The intervention was provided by two advanced practice psychiatric nurses in 4 sessions in groups of 5 to 8 females. An expert panel of 6 psychiatric nurses was formed to guide the intervention design, the delivery of the intervention and intervention validation.Results: The quantitative and qualitative validation of the preliminary intervention showed that psychological distress decreased and was acceptable to participants.Conclusions: The validation of the preliminary intervention provided the expert group with rationale for modifying the content and structure of the intervention in nine categories.

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