Schizoaffective Disorder clinical trials at UCSD
7 in progress, 4 open to eligible people
Adapting and Examining Collaborative Decision Skills Training Among Veterans With Serious Mental Illness
open to eligible people ages 18 years and up
Recovery-oriented care is an imperative for the VA, particularly in mental health programming for Veterans with serious mental illness (SMI). Collaborative decision-making (CDM) is a recovery-oriented approach to treatment decision-making that assigns equal participation and obligation to patients and providers across all aspects of decision-making, thereby empowering patients and facilitating better decision-making based on patient values and preferences. CDM is associated with several important outcomes including improved treatment engagement, treatment satisfaction, and social functioning. However, current levels of CDM among Veterans with SMI are low, and there is not yet an evidence-based method to improve CDM. Improving Veteran skill sets associated with engaging in CDM is a potential intervention strategy. Collaborative Decision Skills Training (CDST) is a promising new intervention that was previously developed by the applicant for use in adult civilians with SMI and found to improve relevant skills and improve sense of personal recovery. The proposed study has two primary stages. First, a small, one-armed, open label trial will establish CDST's feasibility will evaluate CDST among 12 Veterans with SMI receiving services at the VA San Diego Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery Center (PRRC) and identify and complete any needed adaptations to CDST. Stakeholder feedback from Veterans, VA clinicians, and VA administrators will be collected to assess Veteran needs and service context to identify any needed adaptations to the CDST manual or the delivery of CDST to maximize its impact and feasibility. The developers of CDST will review all feedback and make final decisions about adaptations to ensure that CDST retains its essential components to protect against loss of efficacy. For example, a recommendation to adjust role-play topics to better reflect the needs of Veterans would be accepted because it would increase CDST's relevance without impairing its integrity, but a recommendation to remove all role-plays would not be accepted because it would cause loss of a key component. Second, CDST will be compared to active control (AC) using a randomized clinical trial of 72 Veterans. The primary outcome measure will be functioning within the rehabilitation context, operationalized as frequency of Veteran CDM behaviors during Veteran-provider interactions. Secondary outcomes are treatment attendance, engagement, satisfaction, and motivation, along with treatment outcomes (i.e., rehabilitation goal attainment, sense of personal recovery, symptom severity, and social functioning). Three exploratory outcomes will be assessed: Veteran-initiated collaborative behaviors, acute service use and provider attitudes and behavior. Veterans will be randomly assigned to CDST or AC conditions. Veterans in the both groups will attend eight hour-long group sessions held over eight weeks. All Veterans will complete an assessment battery at baseline, post-intervention, and at three-month post-intervention follow-up. Following the trial and adaptation phase, the findings will be used to develop a CDST service delivery manual and design a logical subsequent study. The results of the proposed study will inform the potential for larger trials of CDST and the utility of providing CDST broadly to Veterans with SMI. The results of this study will expand current understanding of CDM among Veterans with SMI by providing data that will: 1) identify adaptations needed to optimize CDST for Veterans receiving services in PRRCs; 2) identify possible benefits of CDST; 3) inform development of alternate interventions or methods to improve CDM; and 4) further elucidate CDM and associated treatment processes among Veterans with SMI receiving VA rehabilitation services.
San Diego, California
iTEST: Introspective Accuracy as a Novel Target for Functioning in Psychotic Disorders
open to eligible people ages 18-65
People with psychotic disorders experience a high level of functional disability, and a major contributor to this disability is introspective accuracy, which is defined as inaccurate judgements of one's abilities and performance on tasks. Yet, no intervention has directly targeted introspective accuracy for psychotic illnesses. This trial will evaluate a new intervention, called iTEST, that uses mobile devices to train people with psychotic disorders to improve introspective accuracy and, ultimately, functional outcomes
La Jolla, California and other locations
Memantine Augmentation of Targeted Cognitive Training in Schizophrenia
open to eligible people ages 18-65
Treatment of schizophrenia currently includes antipsychotic medications and cognitive therapies which improve some symptoms, but do not sufficiently restore cognitive functioning or reduce psychosocial disability. We hypothesize that medications that specifically target sensory information processing deficits, rather than psychotic symptoms per se, will significantly enhance the benefits of a sensory-based targeted cognitive training (TCT) intervention in patients with schizophrenia. We will complete a randomized, double-blind clinical trial to: 1) confirm that the drug memantine augments TCT learning; 2) determine whether memantine enhances the clinical benefits from a full 30 session course of TCT vs. TCT plus placebo in antipsychotic- medicated schizophrenia patients, and 3) determine if memantine's enhancement of TCT is most effective in biomarker-defined subgroups of patients.
San Diego, California
Optimizing CBSST with Executive Function Training for Schizophrenia
open to eligible people ages 60 years and up
The purpose of this research study to test a blended intervention that combines Executive Function Training with Cognitive-Behavioral Skills Training (E-CBSST). The aims include determining whether E-CBSST is feasible and increases Cognitive Behavioral Social Skills Training (CBSST) Skills Learning to a level that will lead to a clinically meaningful improvement in functioning.
La Jolla, California and other locations
Context-Aware Mobile Intervention for Social Recovery in Serious Mental Illness
Sorry, in progress, not accepting new patients
This open trial will test a new technology-supported blended intervention, mobile Social Interaction Therapy by Exposure (mSITE), that targets social engagement in consumers with serious mental illness.
La Jolla, California
Enhancing Rehabilitation for Veterans With Serious Mental Illness
Sorry, not yet accepting patients
This study addresses the critical need for innovative therapeutic interventions in Veterans with serious mental illnesses (SMI) receiving care in VA Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery Centers (PRRCs). The vast majority of individuals with SMI suffer from cognitive impairments, leading to chronic functional disability, and impaired outcomes, causing a significant strain on support networks and the VA healthcare system. This study aims to introduce an innovative mental health therapy, Targeted Cognitive Training (TCT), to Veterans struggling with serious mental illnesses (SMI). TCT works to improve basic sensory information processing and, ultimately, clinical, cognitive, and psychosocial functioning. By using EEG biomarkers to identify Veterans with SMI receiving care within VA Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery Centers who are most likely to benefit from this treatment, and by understanding how best to implement this therapy, the investigators hope to enhance care and improve life quality for Veterans with SMI.
San Diego, California
Obstructive Sleep Apnea Treatment in Serious Mental Illness
Sorry, not yet accepting patients
Serious mental illnesses (SMI) like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are two of the most disabling and costly chronic illnesses worldwide. A high proportion of adults with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have sleep disorders, like obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), but tend to be underdiagnosed and undertreated compared to the general population. This study aims to examine feasibility, acceptance, and impact of OSA treatment and how it affects cognitive function in people with SMI.
La Jolla, California
Our lead scientists for Schizoaffective Disorder research studies include Gregory Light Emily B Treichler, PhD Eric Granholm, PhD Colin A Depp, Ph.D. Ellen Lee.
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