ArticlePilot and feasibility studies2020
Problem-solving therapy rather than treatment as usual for adults after self-harm: a pragmatic, feasibility, randomised controlled trial (the MIDSHIPS trial).
Article in Pilot and feasibility studies, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Psychosocial interventions for self-harm in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- The effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for self-harm in males compared to females: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of brief interventions and contacts after suicide attempt: a systematic review and meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2026Article
- Cost-effectiveness of psychological and psychosocial interventions for adults, children and young people who have self-harmed.BMJ mental health · 2024Article
- Understanding suicidal pathways through the lens of a Dual-System Model of Suicidality in real-time: The potential of ecological momentary assessments.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundNon-fatal self-harm is one of the commonest reasons for adults' emergency hospital attendance. Although strongly associated with fatal and non-fatal repetition, there is weak evidence about effective interventions-and no clear NICE guidance or clinical consensus concerning aftercare. We examined the practicability of a definitive trial to evaluate problem-solving therapy (PST) to reduce repetition of self-harm; MIDSHIPS is a single-centre, parallel-group, individually randomised controlled feasibility trial comparing treatment-as-usual (TAU) alone to TAU plus up to six sessions of brief problem-solving therapy (PST) with adults who had recently attended hospital because of self-harm. Objectives were to adapt the intervention for a UK setting, train therapists, recruit and randomise patients, deliver PST under supervision, and establish comparative outcomes, assessed blindly.
methodsWe adapted the problem-solving intervention from an earlier trial and trained a mental-health nurse to deliver it. Adult patients attending the general hospital for self-harm were recruited while undergoing psychosocial assessment by the mental health team, and 62 were randomly allocated (32 TAU, 30 PST). The primary outcome assessed repeat hospital attendance due to further self-harm 6 months post-randomisation. Secondary outcomes included participant-reported outcomes and service use at 3 and 6 months post-randomisation.
resultsThe recruitment period had to be extended and 710 patients screened in order to establish a trial sample of the planned size (
conclusionsThe feasibility trial achieved its objectives despite considerable difficulties with recruitment-adapting the PST, training a therapist, recruiting patients who had recently self-harmed, delivering the therapy, and establishing primary and secondary outcomes. These data provide a robust platform for a definitive multicentre randomised controlled trial of brief problem-solving therapy after hospital attendance due to self-harm.
trial registrationIdentification number and URL: ISRCTN54036115 http://www.isrctn.com/search?q=midships. Registered: 13 January 2012.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.