Psychoeducational Group Intervention for Adolescents With Psychosis and Their Families: A Two-Year Follow-Up

Abstract

Objective: To investigate whether the beneficial effects of a structured, psychoeducational, parallel-group program for adolescents with early-onset psychosis and their families observed immediately after the intervention were maintained 2 years later.

Method: The present study examines the longitudinal efficacy of a randomized controlled trial based on a psychoeducational, problem-solving, structured group intervention for adolescents with early-onset psychosis and their families (PE) and compares it with that of a nonstructured group intervention (NS) after a 2-year follow-up. We analyzed whether the differences between PE and NS found after the intervention persisted 2 years later. Intergroup differences in number and duration of hospitalizations, symptoms, and functioning were also assessed.

Results: After 2 years of follow-up, we were able to reassess 89% of patients. In the PE group, 13% of patients had visited the emergency department, compared with 50% in the NS group (p = .019). However, no statistically significant differences were found between the groups for negative symptoms or number and duration of hospitalizations. A significant improvement in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) general symptoms was observed in the PE group.

Conclusion: Our psychoeducational group intervention showed sustained effects by diminishing the number of visits to emergency departments 2 years after the intervention. Our findings indicate that this psychoeducational intervention could provide patients with long-lasting resources to manage crises more effectively. Clinical trial registration information-Intervention Module AGES (AGES-CM); http://clinicaltrials.gov/; NCT02101372.

Keywords: families; group therapy; psychoeducation; psychosis.