The ECHO Study: Compassion-focused Therapy for Young Voice Hearers and Their Caregivers

N/ANot Yet RecruitingNCT07314515

University of Southern Denmark80 enrolled

Overview

In this project, a 10-session treatment program was developed aimed at young people who experience voice hearing. The treatment has potential to easily be implemented in everyday clinical practice in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and eventually in Educational Psychological Counselling (PPR) and the newly established STIME services (low-threshold municipal treatment offers for children and young people). As part of the treatment, the young person's caregivers are involved. This means a high degree of involvement from adults who know the young person well and are part of their daily life. In addition to traditional Compassion-focuced therapy (CFT), the treatment is expanded with an intervention where an audio file is recorded with content corresponding to the adolescent's voice hearing. The parents are invited to listen to the audio file while participating in a therapy session. This will help improve the caregivers understanding of the young person's experiences and challenges.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Hallucinations, Auditory

Interventions

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 13 YearsMax age: 21 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * The participants should have been referred to a child and adolescent psychiatric hospital in Denmark . * The participants have heard voices within the last 2 weeks. * The participant can hear the content of the voices. The content takes the form of spoken works. * A caregiver who can participate in 5 sessions Exclusion Criteria: * Participants has an estimated IQ under 70 * Participants who don't speak and understand Danish, * Current drug misuse / abuse (during sessions) * Brain injury or neurological disorder e.g. severe epilepsy * Impaired vision or hearing to a degree that makes participation in therapy under normal conditions impossible.

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Interpretation and relationship with the voices

Psychotic symptoms are measured with: BAVQ-R (Beliefs about Voices Questionnaire - Revised) (Chadwick et al., 2000).( 35 items are rated (0-3) total minimum score 0, maximum score 105. Some scores indicate higher distress, while other indicate lower distress).

Time frame: Data is collected 3 months prior to CFT treatment, immediately before the start of treatment, immediately after treatment is completed, and at 1 month follow-up.

Severity and phenomenological characteristics of voice hearing

PSYRATS AH (Psychotic Symptoms Rating Scale Auditory Hallucinations) (Haddock et al., 1999). (11 items are rated (0-4) total minimum score 0, maximum score 44. Higher score being more severe)

Time frame: Data is collected 3 months prior to CFT treatment, immediately before the start of treatment, immediately after treatment is completed, and at 1 month follow-up.

Perceived ability to control or influence the voices

The Yale Control Over Perceptual Experiences (COPE) Scales measures voluntary control over voices such as being able to intentionally influence the timing, frequency, or intensity of voice hearing experiences (Mourgues et al., 2022). (36 items are rated (1-7) total minimum score 36, maximum score 252. Higher scores indicate stronger perceived control over voices)

Time frame: Data is collected 3 months prior to CFT treatment, immediately before the start of treatment, immediately after treatment is completed, and at 1 month follow-up.

Secondary Outcomes

Social Cognition

Social cognition is tested with TASIT 2A DK (The Awareness of Social Inference Test) (McDonald et al., 2003). (60 items are rated, minimum total score 0, maximum score is 60. Lower score being more severe)

Time frame: Social cognition is tested 3 months before treatment and right after

Subjective experience of feeling safe, accepted, and soothed in social relationships.

SSPS (Social safeness and pleasure scale) (Gilbert et al., 2009). (11 items are rated (1-5). Total minimum 11, total maximum 55. Lower score being more severe).

Time frame: Data is collected 3 months prior to CFT treatment, immediately before the start of treatment, immediately after treatment is completed, and at 1 month follow-up

Compassion towards self.

SCS-SF (Self-Compassion Scale Short Form) (Raes et al., 2011; Neff et al., 2019) (12 items are rated (1-5) total minimum 12, total maximum 60. Lower score being more severe).

Time frame: Data is collected 3 months prior to CFT treatment, immediately before the start of treatment, immediately after treatment is completed, and at 1 month follow-up

Subjective sense of interpersonal closeness and belonging

The Social Connectedness Scale Revised (Lee et al., 1995; Sabitelli et al., 2005). (8 items are rated (1-6). Total minimum score 8, total maximum score 48. Lower score being more severe).

Time frame: Data is collected 3 months prior to CFT treatment, immediately before the start of treatment, immediately after treatment is completed, and at 1 month follow-up

Perceived availability and adequacy of social support

MSPSS (The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support) (Zimet et al. 1988).(12 items are rated (1-7) total minimum 12, total maximum 84. Lower score being more severe).

Time frame: Data is collected 3 months prior to CFT treatment, immediately before the start of treatment, immediately after treatment is completed, and at 1 month follow-up

The ECHO Study: Compassion-focused Therapy for Young Voice Hearers and Their Caregivers

Overview

Conditions

Interventions

Eligibility

Locations (1)

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes

Central Contacts