Researching the Effectiveness of Acceptance-Based Coping During Hospitalization

Patients with psychotic disorders frequently require treatment at inpatient hospital settings during periods of acute illness for crisis management and stabilization. Although these patients often receive efficacious pharmacotherapy, there is a recognized lack of empirically-supported psychosocial interventions provided to patients in typical hospital settings. The provision of high quality psychosocial treatment during hospitalization is challenging due to short lengths of stay and a general lack of trained therapist employed on hospital units who can provide these evidence-based therapies. This unmet need for hospital psychosocial treatment represents a crucial missed opportunity to teach patients coping strategies that can speed time to recovery and impact post-discharge risk factors. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a newer cognitive-behavioral approach that combines innovative mindfulness-based strategies for helping patients to cope more successfully with psychotic and other symptoms and implement values-consistent behavioral goals. However, adaptations to the original ACT approach are urgently needed to foster widespread implementation in community settings. The aim of the current study is to adapt the only promising acute-care psychosocial treatment for psychosis to be implementable in an inpatient setting and pilot test its effectiveness.

Inclusion criteria

• current psychiatric hospitalization
• diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, schizophreniform, brief psychotic disorder, delusional disorder, specified/unspecified other psychotic disorder, or a diagnosis of a mood disorder (major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder) with psychotic features, as determined by chart review and confirmed by the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-5
• 18 years or older
• ability to speak and read English.

Exclusion criteria

• psychosis severe enough to prevent participation in regular hospital groups
• psychotic disorder related to a general medical condition or substance-induced psychotic disorder
• significant cognitive impairment (mini-mental state exam score < 15).