Implementation of a brief online skills group of dialectical behaviour therapy for emotional dysregulation in Latinx: a withdrawal experimental single-case design.

BACKGROUND: Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) skills groups have shown promise as an effective treatment for clients with emotional dysregulation, especially when combined with individual DBT. However, their efficacy is not well established as an online therapy, or in the Latinx population. AIMS: This study aimed to explore satisfaction, retention and effects of an internet-based DBT group added to individual online sessions. METHOD: An ABAB withdrawal experimental single-case design was conducted to evaluate the effect of a brief online DBT skills group on emotional dysregulation, anxiety and depression for five Latinx participants. DBT skills group (phase B) were compared with placebo group sessions (phase A) and fortnightly individual DBT sessions were offered throughout to manage risk. RESULTS: Visual inspection showed a decrease in level of emotional dysregulation and a large effect size according to the Nonoverlap of All Pairs when comparing group DBT and placebo phases. Although depression symptoms decreased after introducing group DBT, anxiety indicators decreased most during the second round of group placebo sessions. DISCUSSION: Whilst only a pilot, this study suggests that online group DBT in Latinx populations is feasible and effective for changing emotional regulation processes but may not effectively target anxiety. Future research might increase the number of DBT sessions in order to enhance learning opportunities and generalization. Replication with larger sample sizes and diverse modalities is needed.

Social connectedness, emotional regulation, and health behaviors as correlates of distress during lockdown for COVID-19: A diary study.

Mass lockdowns are a powerful infection-reduction strategy but are a significant stressor. This study aimed to explore whether various factors known to predict distress in normal contexts (e.g. social connectedness, emotional-regulation strategies, and health-related behaviors) are associated with daily distress under lockdown conditions. A time-based diary study evaluated how perceived social connectedness, health-promoting, and risk behaviors predicted within-person and between-person psychological distress. One hundred and nine adults completed surveys on these variables daily for 15 days while under stringent COVID-19 lockdown in Colombia. Emotional suppression and reappraisal were measured at the start of the study to explore whether they predicted distress. Distress was lower on the days that people experienced greater social connectedness (within-person analyses) but was not significantly predicted by between-participant differences in emotional regulation. Health-promoting behaviors such as exercising and meaningful activity were associated with lower distress, while watching COVID-19 news and eating high-calorie food were associated with higher distress. Looking at individual dynamics provides meaningful insights on daily behaviors associated with distress that might improve people's wellbeing during lockdown, such as social connectedness, meaningful activity, nutrition, exercise, and minimizing news exposure. Future research with alternative designs will enable causal conclusions to be drawn.

Scalability of an ACT-Based strategy for improving well-being in health care providers: A mix-method and preliminary evaluation of efficacy.

The burden of the COVID-19 pandemic has been mainly carried by health care providers. Technology-Mediated Interventions (TMI) seem to be a feasible alternative to increase access to behavioral health resources in this population. However, scaling-up treatments into TMI requires developing user-friendly, accepted, and accessible formats. A two-stage study was conducted to assess scalability of an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) based strategy (named FACE COVID) delivered using technology. First, a mix-method design connected qualitative and quantitative data from health providers and ACT experts by which changes were performed to enhance scalability. Second, a pretest-posttest study was conducted to preliminary evaluate the efficacy of FACE COVID intervention on well-being, psychological distress, and psychological flexibility. Results showed a positive impact on well-being, but not distress and psychological flexibility. While this intervention has promising results, changes in dose intensity, social support, and mental health literacy could improve retention as well as increase opportunities to target distress and psychological flexibility in future studies.