Celso Arango1, María Mayoral1; 1Hospital Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Universidad Complutense, CIBERSAM
Early specialized care may improve short-term outcomes in first-episode psychosis. We implemented a psychoeducational group program (PIENSA) and showed that it helped adolescent patients and their families manage crises, improved patients’ negative symptoms, and increased their involvement in social activities in the short-term. However, it was unclear whether the benefits persist over time. Objective: To investigate whether the beneficial effects of a structured psychoeducational group program for adolescents with early-onset psychosis and their families, observed immediately after the intervention, were maintained two years later. Method: The current study examines the two-year longitudinal efficacy of a randomized controlled trial based on a structured psychoeducational problem-solving group intervention for adolescents with early-onset psychosis and their families (PE) compared with a non-structured group intervention (NS). We analyzed whether the differences found between PE and NS after the intervention persisted two years later. Results: At the two-year follow-up, 89% of patients were able to be reassessed. In the PE group, 13% of patients visited the Emergency Department as compared with 50% in the NS group (p=0.019). However, no statistically significant differences were found between the two groups in terms of negative symptoms or number and duration of hospitalizations. Conclusions: A psychoeducational group intervention showed sustained effects on diminishing the number of Emergency Department visits two years after the intervention. However, improvement in negative symptoms is not maintained. We will present the new actions implemented by the PIENSA team in order to enhance the long-term effects of our intervention.
