Group Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Recovery From Psychosis: Protocol for a Single-Group Waitlist Trial.

BACKGROUND: Psychological interventions, along with antipsychotic medications, are recommended for adults diagnosed with a psychotic disorder. While initially designed to mitigate positive symptoms, psychological interventions targeting personal recovery were developed and aligned with the recovery framework that many mental health services have adopted. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for psychosis is one such intervention that shows promise when delivered in an individual format. There is preliminary evidence that ACT for psychosis in a group format improves recovery. OBJECTIVE: This trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the "Recovery ACT" group program on personal recovery among adults living with a psychotic disorder. METHODS: Our unfunded study is a multiagency, prospective, nonrandomized, waitlist control, single-group trial of the Recovery ACT group program. The program involves 7 weekly group sessions of 90 minutes duration and a 90-minute booster session held 1 month later. We intend to recruit 160 adults living with a psychotic disorder who enroll in a group that is offered as a routine clinical service at participating public mental health services in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The 4 assessment time points are 4-6 weeks before the start of the group program, at the start of the group program, at the end of the group program, and at the booster session. There is an optional midgroup assessment and follow-up study. The primary outcome is personal recovery. Secondary outcomes include participants' well-being and psychological flexibility processes. Qualitative data are also collected from participants and facilitators. RESULTS: Recruitment began in September 2019 and is ongoing until 2024, subsequent to a 24-month disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of the submission of this paper, 93 participants consented to the evaluation, 65 completed T1 measures, and 40 had a complete data set for the proposed analyses. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first trial evaluating the effectiveness of the Recovery ACT group program on personal recovery for adults living with a psychotic disorder. Findings will contribute to knowledge about psychosocial interventions for adults living with psychosis. This trial may also serve as an example of a partnership between clinicians and academics that can facilitate the translation of research into practice. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12620000223932; https://anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?ACTRN=12620000223932. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/49849.

Aggregation of Marginal Gains in Cardiac Surgery: Feasibility of a Perioperative Care Bundle for Enhanced Recovery in Cardiac Surgical Patients.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility of a perioperative care bundle for enhanced recovery after cardiac surgery (ERACS). DESIGN: A prospective, observational study. SETTING: A major urban teaching and university hospital and tertiary referral center. PARTICIPANTS: The study included 53 patients undergoing cardiac surgery before implementation of an ERACS protocol (pre-ERACS group) and 52 patients undergoing cardiac surgery after implementation of an ERACS protocol (ERACS group). INTERVENTIONS: Based on recommendations from a consensus review in colorectal surgery, the following enhanced recovery perioperative care bundle was applied: detailed preoperative information, avoidance of prolonged fasting periods preoperatively, preoperative carbohydrate beverages, optimization of analgesia with avoidance of long-acting opioids, prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting, early enteral nutrition postoperatively, and early mobilization. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The authors hypothesized that length of hospital stay would be reduced with ERACS. Secondary outcome variables included a composite of postoperative complications and pain scores. Whereas the length of stay in the group of patients receiving the bundle of enhanced recovery interventions remained unchanged compared with the non-ERACS group, there was a statistically significant reduction in the number of patients in the ERACS group presenting with one or more postoperative complications (including hospital-acquired infections, acute kidney injury, atrial fibrillation, respiratory failure, postoperative myocardial infarction, and death). In addition, postoperative pain scores were improved significantly in the ERACS group. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study demonstrated that ERACS is feasible and has the potential for improved postoperative morbidity after cardiac surgery. A larger multicenter quality improvement study implementing perioperative care bundles would be the next step to further assess outcomes in ERACS patients.

Quality of social experience explains the relation between extraversion and positive affect.

The personality trait extraversion is associated with higher positive affect, and individuals who behave in an extraverted way experience increased positive affect. Across 2 studies, we examine whether the positive affectivity of extraverts can be explained in terms of qualitative aspects of social experience resulting from extraverted (i.e., bold, assertive) behavior. In our first study (N = 225, 58% female), we found that social well-being, a broad measure of quality of social life (Keyes, 1998) was a significant mediator of the relation between trait extraversion and trait positive affect. This effect was specific to 1 aspect of social well-being-social contribution, one's sense of making an impact on one's social world. In our second study (N = 81, 75% female), we found that a momentary assessment of social well-being mediated the effect of experimentally manipulated extraverted behavior (in the context of 2 brief discussion tasks) on state positive affect. Furthermore, perceived contribution to the discussion tasks accounted for up to 70% of the effect of enacted extraversion on positive affect. This is the first identified mediator of the effect of enacted extraversion on positive affect. Implications and suggestions for extensions of this research are discussed.