Psychosocial Intervention to Reduce Self-stigma and Improve Quality of Life Among People With Mental Illness in Chile

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Bipolar Disorder; Schizoaffective Disorder; Schizophrenia
• Interventions: Behavioral: Control; Behavioral: Intervention to reduce self-stigma among people with mental illness

• Registration Number: NCT03197168
• Lead Sponsor: University of Chile

Brief Summary

The principal objective of this pilot trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of a psychosocial intervention to reduce self-stigma and improve treatment adherence and quality of life among people with a severe mental illness who attend to Community Mental Health Centers in Chile. The intervention is based on recovery and narrative therapy and considers 10 group sessions, mainly with patients, but also integrating relatives and professionals in some of the activities.

Detailed Description

It has been shown that stigma is one of the main barriers faced by individuals with mental illness, negatively impacting their service use and continuity of treatment. Additionally, given its impact on self-esteem, personal empowerment, and social inclusion, stigma greatly affects the quality of life of this population.

Consequently, a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) with two arms (intervention group vs. control group) was designed and implemented. Participants were identified and recruited from two community mental health centers located in Central Chile. The intervention group, in addition to usual care, received a psychosocial intervention based on narrative therapy, recovery and psychoeducation which was specially tailored for this population by the authors.

The sample corresponds to 76 individuals with a severe mental illness (ICD-10), currently treated in the two participating Community Mental Health Centers (COSAM). The category "severe mental illness" includes patients with diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder and severe depressive disorder with psychotic symptoms. Finally, those two clinics were chosen by convenience in order to facilitate the implementation of this study.

Before and after the intervention, the participants' self-stigma (Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness, ISMI), treatment adherence (weeks in treatment), and quality of life (Sevilla Quality of Life Scale) were measured. In addition, the following control variables were also evaluated, due to their influence on the principal outcomes: 1) sociodemographic information, 2) symptom presence and severity (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, PANSS), and 3) alcohol consumption (The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, AUDIT).

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2014-03
• Primary Completion: 2015-08
• Study Completion: 2016-03
• Study First Submitted: 2016-09-01
• Status Verified: 2017-06
• Study First Submitted QC: 2017-06-22
• Last Update Submitted: 2017-06-22
• Study First Posted: 2017-06-23
• Last Update Posted: 2017-06-23

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 76

Inclusion Criteria

• People with diagnosis of severe mental illness, including the following ICD-10 disorders: schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, severe depressive episode with psychotic symptoms.
• No longer than 5 years since the diagnosis since the first visit to a mental health clinic.

Exclusion Criteria

• Expressing active suicidal ideation.
• Having substance abuse or dependence alone (may have psychotic symptoms but does not meet criteria for diagnoses included).
• Presenting cognitive or other sensorial impairment which is likely to preclude reliable assessment via our interview procedures

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Control	Control	Usual care
Intervention	Intervention to reduce self-stigma among people with mental illness	Intervention to reduce self-stigma among people with mental illness + Usual care

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Self-stigma	Baseline (month 6); First follow-up assessment (change from Baseline ISMI scores at month 10); Second follow-up assessment (change from Baseline and 1st follow-up ISMI scores at month 14)	Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale (ISMI) (Rishter et al., 2003). A Chilean version of this instrument was used during the study.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Quality of Life	Baseline (month 6); First follow-up assessment (change from Baseline CSCV scores at month 10); Second follow-up assessment (change from Baseline and 1st follow-up CSCV scores at month 14)	Seville Quality of Life Questionnaire (CSCV) (Gómez de Regil, 2016). A Chilean version of this instrument was used during the study.
Psychopathology	Baseline (month 6); First follow-up assessment (chance from Baseline PANSS scores at month 10); Second follow-up assessment (change from Baseline and 1st follow-up PANSS scores at month 14)	Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). A Chilean version of this instrument was used during the study.
Treatment adherence	Baseline (month 6); First follow-up assessment (change from Treatment Adherence Baseline at month 10); Second follow-up assessment (change from Treatment Adherence Baseline and 1st follow-up at month 14)	Adherence to medical appointments during the study. Time remaining in treatment is estimated by counting the number of days between randomization to the time of the last mental health service received. Medical records at each community mental health center are reviewed to obtain this data.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Chile; 🇨🇱 Santiago, Metropolitana, Chile