Depressed mood as a transdiagnostic target relevant to anxiety and/or psychosis: a scoping review protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Depressed mood is a psychological state characterised by sadness or loss of interest in activities. Depressed mood is a highly prevalent symptom across major mental disorders. However, there is limited understanding of the burden and management of comorbid depressed mood across major mental disorders. Therefore, this scoping review aims to summarise knowledge on depressed mood among persons with anxiety and/or psychosis. The specific aims are to describe the epidemiology and risk factors of depressed mood as a transdiagnostic target among persons with anxiety and/or psychosis, to identify commonly used outcome measures for depressed mood and to outline initial evidence of psychometric robustness and to identify and summarise the effectiveness of commonly applied depressed mood modification interventions. Our hope is that the proposed review will provide insights into the burden of depressed mood in persons with anxiety and psychosis and help to identify evidence gaps and recommendations for future research. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This scoping review will be conducted per Arksey and O'Malley's framework. We will first search for peer-reviewed articles and grey literature published from 2004 to 2023 in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Africa-Wide Information, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Academic Search Premier, Humanities International Complete, Sabinet, SocINDEX, Open Grey and Google Scholar. We will include articles reporting depressed mood (subthreshold depression) among persons with anxiety and/or psychosis. Studies recruiting participants meeting depression diagnostic criteria and those published in non-English languages will be excluded. Two independent researchers will extract the data. We will analyse and chart data collaboratively with researchers with lived experiences of depressed mood. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study does not require ethical approval as it is a literature review. The results will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

The impact of working alliance in managing youth anxiety and depression: a scoping review.

A working alliance (WA) is a multidimensional construct signifying a collaborative relationship between a client and a therapist. Systematic reviews of therapies to treat depression and anxiety, almost exclusively in adults, show WA is essential across psychotherapies. However, there are critical gaps in our understanding of the importance of WA in low-intensity therapies for young people with depression and anxiety. Here, we describe an initiative to explore the effect of WA on anxiety and depression outcomes in youth aged 14-24 years through a scoping review and stakeholders' consultations (N = 32). We analysed 27 studies; most were done in high-income countries and evaluated one-on-one in-person therapies (18/27). The review shows that optimal WA is associated with improvements in: relationships, self-esteem, positive coping strategies, optimism, treatment adherence, and emotional regulation. Young people with lived experience expressed that: a favourable therapy environment, regular meetings, collaborative goal setting and confidentiality were vital in forming and maintaining a functional WA. For a clinician, setting boundaries, maintaining confidentiality, excellent communication skills, being non-judgmental, and empathy were considered essential for facilitating a functional WA. Overall, a functional WA was recognised as an active ingredient in psychotherapies targeting anxiety and depression in young people aged 14-24. Although more research is needed to understand WA's influence in managing anxiety and depression in young people, we recommend routine evaluation of WA. Furthermore, there is an urgent need to identify strategies that promote WA in psychotherapies to optimise the treatment of anxiety and depression in young people.

Risk factors for HIV virological non-suppression among adolescents with common mental disorder symptoms in Zimbabwe: a cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Adolescents are at increased risk of HIV virological non-suppression compared to adults and younger children. Common mental disorders such as anxiety and depression are a barrier to adherence and virological suppression. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with virological non-suppression among adolescents living with HIV (ALWH) in Zimbabwe who had symptoms of common mental disorders. METHODS: We utilized baseline data from a cluster-randomized controlled trial of a problem-solving therapy intervention to improve mental health and HIV viral suppression of ALWH. Sixty clinics within 10 districts were randomized 1:1 to either the intervention or control arm, with the aim to recruit 14 adolescents aged 10 to 19 per clinic. Adolescents were eligible if they scored ≥7 on the Shona Symptom Questionnaire measuring symptoms of common mental disorders. Multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for factors associated with non-suppression, defined as viral load ≥1000 copies/mL. RESULTS: Between 2 January and 21 March 2019 the trial enrolled 842 participants aged 10 to 19 years (55.5% female, 58.8% aged <16). Most participants (N = 613) were taking an NNRTI-based ART regimen (13 PI-based, 216 unknown) and median duration on ART was six years (IQR three to nine years, 240 unknown). Of the 833 with viral load data 292 (35.1%) were non-suppressed. Virological non-suppression was independently associated with male sex (adjusted OR (aOR) = 1.43, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.97), and with not knowing one's own HIV status (aOR = 1.77, 95% CI 1.08 to 2.88), or knowing one's status but not disclosing it to anyone (aOR = 1.99, 95% CI 1.36 to 2.93), compared to adolescents who knew their status and had disclosed it to someone. CONCLUSIONS: ALWH with symptoms of common mental disorders have high prevalence of virological non-suppression in Zimbabwe, especially if they do not know their status or have not disclosed it. In general adolescents should be informed of their HIV status, with encouragement on the beneficial health and social effects of viral suppression, to incentivise adherence. Efforts to strengthen the operationalization of disclosure guidelines for adolescents should now be prioritized.

Effectiveness of a peer-led adolescent mental health intervention on HIV virological suppression and mental health in Zimbabwe: protocol of a cluster-randomised trial.

BACKGROUND: Adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV) experience a high burden of mental health disorder which is a barrier to antiretroviral therapy adherence. In Zimbabwe, trained, mentored peer supporters living with HIV (Community Adolescent Treatment Supporters - CATS) have been found to improve adherence, viral suppression and psychosocial well-being among ALHIV. The Friendship Bench is the largest integrated mental health programme in Africa. We hypothesise that combining the CATS programme and Friendship Bench will improve mental health and virological suppression among ALHIV compared with the CATS programme alone. METHODS: We will conduct a cluster-randomised controlled trial in 60 clinics randomised 1:1 in five provinces. ALHIV attending the control arm clinics will receive standard CATS support and clinic support following the Ministry of Health guidelines. Those attending the intervention arm clinics will receive Friendship Bench problem-solving therapy, delivered by trained CATS. Participants with the signs of psychological distress will be referred to the clinic for further assessment and management. The primary outcome is HIV virological failure (≥1000 copies/ml) or death at 48 weeks. Secondary outcomes include the proportion of adolescents with common mental disorder symptoms (defined as Shona Symptom Questionnaire (SSQ-14) score ≥8), proportion with depression symptoms (defined as Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) score ≥11), symptom severity (mean SSQ-14 and PHQ-9 scores) and EQ-5D score for health-related quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: This trial evaluates the effectiveness of peer-delivery of mental health care on mental health and HIV viral load among ALHIV. If effective this intervention has the potential to be scaled-up to improve these outcomes.Trial registration: PACTR201810756862405. 08 October 2018.