The ECHO Study: Compassion-focused Therapy for Young Voice Hearers and Their Caregivers
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Not yet recruiting
- Enrollment
- 80
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Interpretation and relationship with the voices
Study Overview
Brief Summary
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 Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Na
- Intervention Model
- Single Group
- Primary Purpose
- Treatment
- Masking
- None
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 13 Years to 21 Years (Child, Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- No
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.
Arms & Interventions
10 sessions manualized CFT treatment for young voice heares
60 voice hearing patients age 13-18 years old 20 patients with first-episode schizophrenia age 18-21
Intervention: ECHO Manualized CFT treatment for young voice heares (Behavioral)
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Interpretation and relationship with the 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.
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).
Severity and phenomenological characteristics of voice hearing
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.
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)
Perceived ability to control or influence the 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.
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)
Secondary Outcomes
- Social Cognition(Social cognition is tested 3 months before treatment and right after)
- Subjective experience of feeling safe, accepted, and soothed in social relationships.(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.(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(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(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)