Bea G. Tiemens

Review of systematic reviews about the efficacy of non‐pharmacological interventions to improve sleep quality in insomnia

Backgroundu2002 Insomnia is a very common condition in various populations. Non-pharmacological interventions might offer (safe) alternatives for hypnotics. Aimu2002 To evaluate the evidence for efficacy from systematic reviews about non-pharmacological interventions to improve sleep quality in insomnia by a systematic review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Search strategyu2002 Search strategies were conducted in the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (2002-July 2008), The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2000-July 2008) and PubMed (1950-July 2008). Sleep quality was the outcome measure of interest. Selection criteriau2002 Systematic reviews about the efficacy of one or more non-pharmacological interventions for insomnia, concerning both adult and elderly populations, were included. Reviews that included studies performed among populations suffering with severe neurological or cognitive impairments or with addictive disorders were excluded. Data analysisu2002 Relevant data were extracted. The quality of the reviews found was appraised by using the Overview Quality Assessment Questionnaire. The evidence was appraised and divided into six classes. Results and conclusionsu2002 Sixteen reviews about 17 interventions were included. Six reviews were of adequate methodological quality. Of these, only one provided an effect size: a moderate effect was found for music-assisted relaxation. Weak evidence indicating a large effect was found for multicomponent cognitive behavioural therapy, progressive muscle relaxation, stimulus control and behavioural only. Weak evidence indicating a moderate effect was found for paradoxical intention. Finally, weak evidence indicating a moderate to large effect was found for relaxation training. Because of the lack of sufficient methodological quality and the lack of calculated effect sizes, most of the included reviews were not suitable for drawing rigorous conclusions about the effect of non-pharmacological interventions on sleep quality in insomniacs. The non-pharmacological treatment of insomnia would benefit from renewed reviews based on a rigorous methodological approach.

Perceived sleep quality of psychiatric patients

This paper aims at acquiring knowledge about the quality of sleep of adult and elderly psychiatric patients who receive clinical or outpatient nursing care, and identifying key factors in perceiving a sleep problem. To do so, a sample of 1699 psychiatric patients were asked whether they perceived a sleep problem and were invited to fill in the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and additional questions. Five hundred and sixty (33%) questionnaires were returned. As a result, we find that 36% of the patients perceived a sleep problem, while the PSQI assessed 66% of the sample as being bad sleepers. Forty-nine per cent of the respondents used sleep medication one or more times a week. Five items of the PSQI were shown to be predictors of a perceived sleep problem. Four of these are insomnia symptoms, while the fifth is the use of sleep medication. Moreover, the patients who used sleep medication most scored significantly worse on all PSQI components than patients who used sleep medication less than once a week. In conclusion, many psychiatric patients perceive a sleep problem and all nurses could be confronted not only with the night-time consequences of this, but also with daytime consequences. Therefore, sleep problems must not be viewed as an isolated problem but must be seen in relation with social functioning.

Psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the Evidence-Based Practice Attitude Scale (EBPAS)

BackgroundThe Evidence-Based Practice Attitude Scale (EBPAS) was developed in the United States to assess attitudes of mental health and welfare professionals toward evidence-based interventions. Although the EBPAS has been translated in different languages and is being used in several countries, all research on the psychometric properties of the EBPAS within youth care has been carried out in the United States. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the EBPAS.MethodsAfter translation into Dutch, the Dutch version of the EBPAS was examined in a diverse sample of 270 youth care professionals working in five institutions in the Netherlands. We examined the factor structure with both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and the internal consistency reliability. We also conducted multiple linear regression analyses to examine the association of EBPAS scores with professionals’ characteristics. It was hypothesized that responses to the EBPAS items could be explained by one general factor plus four specific factors, good to excellent internal consistency reliability would be found, and EBPAS scores would vary by age, sex, and educational level.ResultsThe exploratory factor analysis suggested a four-factor solution according to the hypothesized dimensions: Requirements, Appeal, Openness, and Divergence. Cronbach’s alphas ranged from 0.67 to 0.89, and the overall scale alpha was 0.72. The confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the factor structure and suggested that the lower order EBPAS factors are indicators of a higher order construct. However, Divergence was not significantly correlated with any of the subscales or the total score. The confirmatory bifactor analysis endorsed that variance was explained both by a general attitude towards evidence-based interventions and by four specific factors. The regression analyses showed an association between EBPAS scores and youth care professionals’ age, sex, and educational level.ConclusionsThe present study provides strong support for a structure with a general factor plus four specific factors and internal consistency reliability of the Dutch version of the EBPAS in a diverse sample of youth care professionals. Hence, the factor structure and reliability of the original version of the EBPAS seem generalizable to the Dutch version of the EBPAS.

Association between level of personality organization as assessed with theory-driven profiles of the Dutch Short Form of the MMPI and outcome of inpatient treatment for personality disorder

The association between level of personality organization as assessed by theory-driven profile interpretation of the MMPI (Hathaway & McKinley, 1943) Dutch Short Form and treatment outcome was investigated in a naturalistic follow-up study among 121 psychotherapy inpatients who had been treated for their severe personality pathology. Treatment outcome was measured with the Brief Symptom Inventory (De Beurs & Zitman, 2006). Personality organization was associated with severity of psychopathology at baseline, the end of treatment, and 36 months after baseline. At 36 months after baseline, all patients except those with the high-level borderline organization profile and the psychotic borderline profile maintained their improvement. Contrary to expectations, (a) personality organization did not differentiate between patients with successful and unsuccessful out-comes, and (b) patients with a neurotic personality organization did not respond better than those with a borderline personality organization. Because of the small N, conclusions are tentative.

Predictive Validity of the MMPI-2 Clinical, PSY-5, and RC Scales for Therapy Disruptive Behavior

Background. Impulsive acts, parasuicidal behavior, and other therapy disruptive incidents occur frequently in the treatment of patients with personality disorders and increase the risk that patients will drop out of treatment. Objective. This study examined the predictive validity of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)-2 Restructured Clinical (RC) and Psychopathology Five (PSY-5) Scales for therapy disruptive behavior and compared them with the original clinical scales. Methods. Using an inventory, the treatment staff recorded the therapy disruptive behavior of 104 patients with personality disorders who were receiving inpatient psychotherapy. Results. Both the RC and the PSY-5 scales predicted several categories of therapy disruptive behavior, and both scales predicted more categories of therapy disruptive behavior than the original clinical scales. Anger outbursts were predicted especially well by a combination of two of the RC scales. Conclusions. The information about the MMPI-2 obtained in this study may be helpful in case formulation when initiating inpatient treatment for patients with personality disorders. (Journal of Psychiatric Practice 2012;18:420–429)

The reliability of the Developmental Profile based on video ratings

Although psychodynamic interviews often provide a broad spectrum of interesting and useful information for the therapist, most of these interviews lack sufficient psychometric quality. So far, the Developmental Profile interview seemed an exception. However, only first-level reliability ratings based on a written account of an interview had been conducted. This study presents the results of a second-level reliability study of the Developmental Profile, based on ratings of videotapes of the Profile interview. A total of 32 videotaped interviews with psychotherapeutic inpatients were rated by three independent raters in compliance with the new version of the Developmental Profile rating manual. Contrary to earlier findings, the authors found insufficient reliability. Results are discussed.

Treatment results for severe psychiatric illness: which method is best suited to denote the outcome of mental health care?

BackgroundThe present study investigates the suitability of various treatment outcome indicators to evaluate performance of mental health institutions that provide care to patients with severe mental illness. Several categorical approaches are compared to a reference indicator (continuous outcome) using pretest-posttest data of the Health of Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS).MethodsData from 10 institutions and 3189 patients were used, comprising outcomes of the first year of treatment by teams providing long-term care.ResultsFindings revealed differences between continuous indicators (standardized pre-post difference score ES and ΔT) and categorical indicators (SEM, JTRCI, JTCS, JTRCI&CS, JTrevised) on their ranking of institutions, as well as substantial differences among categorical indicators; the outcome according to the traditional JT approach was most concordant with the continuous outcome indicators.ConclusionsFor research comparing group averages, a continuous outcome indicator such as ES or ΔT is preferred, as this best preserves information from the original variable. Categorical outcomes can be used to illustrate what is accomplished in clinical terms. For categorical outcome, the classical Jacobson-Truax approach is preferred over the more complex method of Parabiaghi et al. with eight outcome categories. The latter may be valuable in clinical practice as it allows for a more detailed characterization of individual patients.

Psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the Treatment Support Measure (TSM) parent and youth form

The Treatment Support Measure (TSM) Parent and Youth were created to help clinicians with actionable feedback when youths are not making sufficient progress in treatment. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Dutch TSM Parent and TSM Youth. Parents (nxa0=xa0172) and youth (nxa0=xa0122) were recruited at 2 outpatient mental health care institutions. Children of participating parents (50.6% boys) had a mean age of 11.9xa0years (SDxa0=xa03.46; range 4-18). Participating youth (30.3% boys) had a mean age of 15.68xa0years (SDxa0=xa01.75; range 12-18). Participants were asked to complete the TSM and questionnaires measuring related constructs once during treatment. Responses to the TSM Parent items were explained by 9 instead of 5 subscales, and responses to the TSM Youth items were explained by 8 instead of 4 subscales. The internal consistency reliability of both the TSM Parent and the TSM Youth scales was generally good. The convergent validity of the TSM Parent and the TSM Youth was also good, although the divergent validity was less convincing. The criterion validity was inconclusive; the TSM Parent was not able to differentiate between problematic and nonproblematic treatments, but multiple scales of the TSM Youth were able to differentiate between these groups. The TSM Parent and TSM Youth have potential to be helpful tools in clinical practice. They could signal potential barriers to youth progress and direct the conversation between the clinician and youth and parents about adaptation of treatment.nnnKEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGEnThis is the first study to investigate the psychometric properties of the Treatment Support Measure (TSM) Parent and Youth versions, which are created to help clinicians with actionable feedback when youths are not making sufficient progress in treatment. The Dutch TSM Parent and TSM Youth have moderate to good psychometric properties. The Dutch TSM Parent and TSM Youth might be helpful tools for use in clinical practice: they contain variables that are related to youth outcome, can signal potential barriers to youth progress, and can direct the conversation between the clinician and the youth and parents about adaptation of treatment. The Dutch TSM Parent and TSM Youth could be added to the regular ROM to facilitate both routine monitoring of outcome and direct and concrete aid to the here-and-now relational processes in treatment.

Meten omdat geen cliënt hetzelfde is: Over acceptatie van onzekerheid

SamenvattingOns boek ‘Evidence based werken in de GGZ’1 dat net is verschenen, hadden we kunnen beginnen met de laatste zin uit het artikel van Dineke smit in het vorige nummer van PsychoPraktijk: ‘We moeten de complexiteit van de GGZ erkennen en leren omgaan met de daarbij behorende onzekerheden’2. Mooier hadden we het uitgangspunt van ons boek niet kunnen beschrijven. Toch maken we andere keuzes om hiermee om te gaan dan smit, zoals we hieronder zullen uitleggen.