Assessing social recovery of vulnerable youth in global mental health settings: a pilot study of clinical research tools in Malaysia.

BACKGROUND: A social recovery approach to youth mental health focuses on increasing the time spent in valuable and meaningful structured activities, with a view to preventing enduring mental health problems and social disability. In Malaysia, access to mental health care is particularly limited and little research has focused on identifying young people at risk of serious socially disabling mental health problems such as psychosis. We provide preliminary evidence for the feasibility and acceptability of core social recovery assessment tools in a Malaysian context, comparing the experiential process of engaging young Malaysian participants in social recovery assessments with prior accounts from a UK sample. METHODS: Nine vulnerable young people from low-income backgrounds were recruited from a non-government social enterprise and partner organisations in Peninsular Malaysia. Participants completed a battery of social recovery assessment tools (including time use, unusual experiences, self-schematic beliefs and values). Time for completion and completion rates were used as indices of feasibility. Acceptability was examined using qualitative interviews in which participants were asked to reflect on the experience of completing the assessment tools. Following a deductive approach, the themes were examined for fit with previous UK qualitative accounts of social recovery assessments. RESULTS: Feasibility was indicated by relatively efficient completion time and high completion rates. Qualitative interviews highlighted the perceived benefits of social recovery assessments, such as providing psychoeducation, aiding in self-reflection and stimulating goal setting, in line with findings from UK youth samples. CONCLUSIONS: We provide preliminary evidence for the feasibility and acceptability of social recovery assessment tools in a low-resource context, comparing the experiential process of engaging young Malaysian participants in social recovery assessments with prior accounts from a UK sample. We also suggest that respondents may derive some personal and psychoeducational benefits from participating in assessments (e.g. of their time use and mental health) within a social recovery framework.

"It felt very special, it felt customised to me"-A qualitative investigation of the experiences of participating in a clinical trial of CBT for young people at risk of bipolar disorder.

OBJECTIVES: The Bipolar at Risk Trial (BART) was a feasibility randomized controlled trial investigating cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) compared with treatment as usual (TAU) in young people at high risk of developing bipolar disorder (BD). This qualitative study aimed to investigate participants' experiences of trial involvement, and the acceptability of CBT for this population. DESIGN: Participants were those identified as being at risk of bipolar disorder, determined by current symptoms or family history. A purposive sample of twenty-one participants from both the intervention and TAU arms of the trial was recruited. METHODS: Twenty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted by service user researchers (13 participants had received therapy and 8 TAU). Interviews were audio recorded with consent from participants and transcribed verbatim. NVivo 11 Pro software was used to conduct an inductive thematic analysis. RESULTS: Super-ordinate themes were "adaptability and flexibility," "feeling understood and valued," and "relevance of study and intervention" which had two sub-themes-"value of the trial therapy" and "acceptability of trial processes." Participating in the trial and having therapy enabled participants to feel understood and valued by research assistants (RAs) and therapists. Participants viewed therapy as relevant to their current concerns and valued adaptability and flexibility of RAs and therapists. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the importance and value of flexibility, adaptability, and understanding in relationships between participants and trial staff. Findings also indicate that the trial processes and CBT focusing on mood swings are acceptable and relevant to participants from this at risk population. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Young people at risk of bipolar disorder value a flexible approach to assessments and therapy, developing a rapport with research assistants and therapists and opening up to them when they feel comfortable to do so. CBT focusing on coping with mood swings was acceptable to the majority of participants who received it and it was perceived as helpful in ways that were personal to each participant.