Case Formulation in Young People with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and First-Episode Psychosis.

BACKGROUND: Evidence based treatment interventions for young people with first-episode psychosis (FEP) and trauma histories is lacking. Although case formulation (CF) has been widely regarded in cognitive behavioural therapy manuals as beneficial, there is limited empirical research examining how clients and therapists experience the process. AIM: This study aimed to explore young people's reactions to CF in treatment for PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and FEP. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three participants (aged 19-20) with FEP and PTSD and their therapists, after they had completed a trauma-focused treatment program with a CF component. Transcripts were analysed using an interpretative phenomenological approach and themes were derived. RESULTS: Two themes related to participants' experiences were identified from the analysis: (1) Developing Insight; (2) A challenging experience; and two themes from the therapists: (1) Doing the case formulation; (2) Value of case formulation. Participants and therapists reported benefits in making connections between current symptoms and past trauma. Participants viewed the process as challenging. CONCLUSION: Results suggest a potential discrepancy between the experience of the case formulation process for clients and therapists.

Identifying illness perception schemata and their association with depression and quality of life in cardiac patients.

The purpose of this paper is to identify groups of cardiac patients who share similar perceptions about their illness and to examine the relationships between these schemata and psychosocial outcomes such as quality of life and depression. A total of 190 cardiac patients with diagnoses of myocardial infarction, stable angina pectoris or chronic heart failure, completed a battery of psychosocial questionnaires within four weeks of their admission to hospital. These included the Brief Illness Perceptions Questionnaire (BIPQ), Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI II) and The MacNew Health-related Quality of Life instrument (MacNew). BIPQ items were subjected to latent class analysis (LCA) and the resulting groups were compared according to their BDI II and MacNew scores. LCA identified a five-class model of illness perception which comprised the following: (1) Consequence focused and mild emotional impact, n = 55, 29%; (2) Low illness perceptions and low emotional impact, n = 45, 24%; (3) Control focused and mild emotional impact, n = 10, 5%; (4) Consequence focused and high emotional impact, n = 60, 32%; and (5) Consequence focused and severe emotional impact, n = 20, 10%. Gender and diagnosis did not appear to reflect class membership except that class 2 had a significantly higher proportion of AMI patients than did class 5. There were numerous significant differences between classes in regards to depression and health-related quality of life. Notably, classes 4 and 5 are distinguished by relatively high BDI II scores and low MacNew scores. Identifying classes of cardiac patients based on their illness perception schemata, in hospital or shortly afterwards, may identify those at risk of developing depressive symptoms and poor quality of life.