Evaluating changes in functioning and psychological distress in visitors of the @ease youth mental health walk-in centres

Background Highly accessible youth initiatives worldwide aim to prevent worsening of mental health problems, but research into outcomes over time is scarce. Aims This study aimed to evaluate outcomes and support use in 12- to 15-year-old visitors of the @ease mental health walk-in centres, a Dutch initiative offering free counselling by trained and supervised peers. Method Data of 754 visitors, collected 2018-2022, included psychological distress (Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation 10 (CORE-10)), social and occupational functioning (Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS)), school absenteeism and support use, analysed with change indicators (first to last visit), and mixed models (first three visits). Results Among return visitors, 50.5% were female, 79.4% were in tertiary education and 36.9% were born outside of The Netherlands (one-time visitors: 64.7%, 72.9% and 41.3%, respectively). Moreover, 29.9% of return visitors presented with suicidal ideations, 97.1% had clinical psychological distress levels, and 64.1% of the latter had no support in the previous 3 months (one-time visitors: 27.2%, 90.7% and 71.1%, respectively). From visit 1 to 3, psychological distress decreased (β = -3.79, 95% CI -5.41 to -2.18; P < 0.001) and social and occupational functioning improved (β = 3.93, 95% CI 0.51-7.36; P = 0.025). Over an average 3.9 visits, 39.6% improved reliably and 28.0% improved clinically significantly on the SOFAS, which was 28.4% and 8.8%, respectively, on the CORE-10, where 43.2% improved in clinical category. Counselling satisfaction was rated 4.5/5. Conclusions Reductions in psychological distress, improvements in functioning and high counselling satisfaction were found among @ease visitors, forming a basis for future research with a control group

Who is @ease? Visitors’ characteristics and working method of professionally supported peer-to-peer youth walk-in centres, anonymous and free of charge

Aim: Although mental disorders often emerge early in life, only a minority of young people receive timely and appropriate mental health care. A worldwide youth mental health movement aims to prevent development and persistence of psychiatric disorders. As part of this movement, the first four @ease centres were opened in the Netherlands. @ease is a youth driven, professionally supported initiative, providing peer-to-peer counselling, anonymous and free of charge, for people aged 12–25. Methods: Data consist of a detailed description of the working method of @ease, combined with characteristics of all young people accessing the services between its inception (January 2018) and July 2020. Results: Young-adult peers, including experts by experience, served as counsellors after training in listening, motivational interviewing and solution-focused strategies. They were supervised by a diverse group of healthcare professionals. A total of 291 visitors, aged 21 on average, were satisfied to very satisfied with @ease's services. Psychosocial distress, social functioning and quality of life measures at first visit showed moderate to severe levels of impairment, and almost half of all visitors reported skipping classes. One third reported parental mental illness, 28% suicidal ideations, and 11% had made specific plans. Less than a third of visitors had received mental health care in the 3 months prior to their visit. Conclusion: This study showed the need for and feasibility of a youth driven, professionally supported organization offering peer-to-peer counselling in the Netherlands. Its flexible and individualized working method enables @ease to normalize problems when possible and intervene when necessary

Psychometric properties of the self-report version of the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms (QIDS-SR16) questionnaire in patients with schizophrenia

Background: Self-report instruments for the assessment of depressive symptoms in patients with psychotic disorders are scarce. The Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms (QIDS-SR16) may be a useful self-report instrument, but has received little attention in this field. This paper aimed to test the psychometric properties of the QIDS-SR16 questionnaire in patients with a psychotic disorder. Methods: Patients diagnosed with a psychotic disorder from health care institutions in The Netherlands were included in the study. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the QIDS-SR16 and the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS). Psychotic symptoms were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) with three EPS rating scales. Spearman's correlation coefficients were used to compare the total score of the QIDS-SR16 with the total scores of the CDSS, PANSS-subscales and EPS rating scales. Results: In a sample of 621 patients with psychotic disorders, the QIDS-SR16 showed good internal consistency (a = 0.87). The QIDS-SR16 correlated moderately with the CDSS (r = 0.44) and the PANSS subscale for emotional distress (r = 0.47). The QIDS-SR16 showed weak correlation with the PANSS subscale for negative symptoms (r = 0.28) and minimal correlation with EPS rating scales (r = 0.09-0.16). Conclusions: The QIDS-SR16 may reliably assess depressive symptoms in patients with psychotic disorders, but its concurrent validity with the CDSS was rather poor in this population. We would recommend developing a new self-report questionnaire for the assessment of depressive symptoms in patients with psychotic disorders

Erratum: Evaluating changes in functioning and psychological distress in visitors of the @ease youth mental health walk-in centres (BJPsych Open (2024) 10:3 (e101) DOI: 10.1192/bjo.2024.58)

In the original publication of this article, the age of visitors was given wrongly as '12- to 15-year-olds' in the abstract section of the paper. This should have been '12- to 25-year-olds'. This has now been corrected and this erratum published. The publisher apologises for the error

The distribution of self-reported psychotic-like experiences in non-psychotic help-seeking mental health patients in the general population:a factor mixture analysis

Purpose: Factor mixture analysis (FMA) and item response mixture models in the general population have shown that the psychosis phenotype has four classes. This study attempted to replicate this finding in help-seeking people accessing mental health services for symptoms of non-psychotic mental disorders. Methods: All patients (18-35 years old) referred for non-psychotic mental health problems to the secondary mental healthcare service in The Hague between February 2008 to February 2010 (N = 3,694), were included. Patients completed the Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ). Hybrid latent class analysis was applied to explore the number, size and symptom profiles of the classes. Results: The FMA resulted in four classes. Class 1 (N = 1,039, 28.1 %) scored high on conceptual disorganization, inattention and mood disorder. Patients in Class 2 (N = 619, 16.8 %) endorsed almost all PQ-items, were more often screened as being psychotic or at high risk of developing psychosis, without care takers noticing. In Class 3 (N = 1,747, 47.3 %) perplexity, paranoia and negative symptoms were more prevalent. Patients were more often at high risk of developing psychosis. Class 4 (N = 286, 7.7 %) represented the 'normative' group with low probabilities for all items. Discussion: The results support the hypothesis that a representation in four classes of psychotic-like experiences can also be applied in a help-seeking population. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg