Trial reportThe Lancet. Digital health2022
Effect of digital psychoeducation and peer support on the mental health of family carers supporting individuals with psychosis in England (COPe-support): a randomised clinical trial.
Trial report in The Lancet. Digital health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
19 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Psychosocial Interventions in the Rehabilitation and the Management of Psychosis and Schizophrenia: A Systematic Review on Digitally-Delivered Interventions.Actas espanolas de psiquiatria · 2025Pooled it
- Family-based interventions versus standard care for people with schizophrenia.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Caring for a friend or family member who has experienced suicidal behaviour: A systematic review and qualitative synthesis.Psychology and psychotherapy · 2023Pooled it
- Relieving the Burden on Caregivers: A Single-Group, 4-Week Pilot Study Evaluating the Impact of a Brief Online Psychoeducation Program (AES) on Burden Reduction and Schizophrenia-Related Knowledge for Informal Caregivers of Individuals with Schizophrenia in German-Speaking Countries.Community mental health journal · 2026Article
- Web-Based Psychoeducation Program for Improving Coping Mechanisms Among Family Caregivers of People with Schizophrenia: A Quasi-Experimental Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- A Scoping Review of Technology/Digital Support Tools for Informal Mental Health Carers: Impacts on Well being and Experience.Community mental health journal · 2026Article
- Effects of a narrative-based psychoeducational intervention on medication adherence in individuals with schizophrenia: a multicentre, parallel-group randomised controlled trial.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Co-designing a peer support programme for carers of people treated under the Mental Health Act: views from stakeholders.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- The impact of technology use for care by informal female caregivers on their well-being: a scoping review.Systematic reviews · 2025Article
- Type and efficacy of online training for informal carers: a narrative review.Frontiers in public health · 2025Review
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- Leveraging Personal Technologies in the Treatment of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: Scoping Review.JMIR mental health · 2024Article
- Understanding the Impacts of Online Mental Health Peer Support Forums: Realist Synthesis.JMIR mental health · 2024Article
- Digital Interventions for Relapse Prevention, Illness Self-Management, and Health Promotion In Schizophrenia: Recent Advances, Continued Challenges, and Future Opportunities.Current treatment options in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Pragmatic, feasibility randomized controlled trial of a recorded mental health recovery narrative intervention: narrative experiences online intervention for informal carers (NEON-C).Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Urgency for Digital Technologies to Support Caregivers. Comment on "Telehealth-Based Psychoeducation for Caregivers: The Family Intervention in Recent-Onset Schizophrenia Treatment Study".JMIR mental health · 2022Article
- Learner experiences of a carer-focused massive open online course on psychosis: A qualitative study.Digital healthArticle
- Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an integrated digital psychological intervention (Digital healthArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
20 authors at 12 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPsychoeducation delivered face-to-face is effective in alleviating mental health morbidities in family carers of individuals with psychosis. However, research in such interventions delivered online is scarce. We evaluated the effectiveness of a digital multicomponent intervention-COPe-support-in improving carers' mental wellbeing and caregiving-related outcomes.
methodsIn this two-arm, individually randomised, superiority trial, people aged 18 years or older who provided at least weekly support in any format for a relative or close friend affected by psychosis across England were randomly assigned (1:1) to either COPe-support or a passive online information resource using an independent online system. Participants were recruited through 30 mental health UK National Health Service trusts. The study team were masked to allocation and assessment of outcomes as all data collection took place online. Participants had access to either condition for 40 weeks and were advised to spend at least half an hour per week over the initial 20 weeks to go through materials at their own pace and to allow time to integrate knowledge and skills learned into practice. It was not feasible to mask participants or the online facilitator to intervention allocation. COPe-support provided psychoeducation on psychosis-related caregiving strategies and forums with professionals and other carers, and the control intervention comprised a passive online information resource. The primary outcome at 20 weeks was mental wellbeing measured by the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS; minimally clinically important difference [MCID] 3). This trial is registered with ISRCTN, 89563420.
findingsBetween March 1, 2018, and Feb 14, 2020, 407 participants were randomly assigned, with 204 allocated to COPe-support and 203 allocated to control. The participants (mean age 53·1 years, SD 13·2) were mostly female (330 [81%] of 407 participants) and White (359 [88%] of 407 participants). 346 (85%) of 407 participants provided primary endpoint data, 174 (85%) of 204 participants in the COPe-support group and 172 (85%) of 203 participants in the control group. The mean WEMWBS score at 20 weeks was 44·5 (SD 8·31) for the COPe-support group and 43·3 (9·19) for the control group. We found no evidence of a difference in wellbeing between the two groups (adjusted mean difference 0·37, 95% CI -1·14 to 1·88; p=0·63). In the COPe-support group, 106 (52%) of 204 participants met the complier definition of a minimum of two logins in separate weeks. The complier average causal effect analysis increased the difference in WEMWBS scores (adjusted difference 0·83, 95% CI -1·45 to 3·11; p=0·47), but this was lower than the MCID. There were no adverse events.
interpretationOur findings did not support the use of COPe-support over a passive online information resource. However, further research to optimise digital interventions adjunctive to face-to-face support for carers remains important.
fundingNational Institute for Health Research.
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Registered trials
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.