ArticleJMIR mental health2023
Moderated Online Social Therapy for Carers of Early Psychosis Clients in Real-World Settings: Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.
Article in JMIR mental health, 2023. 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, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Digital Health Interventions for Informal Family Caregivers of People With First-Episode Psychosis: Systematic Review on User Experience and Effectiveness.JMIR mental health · 2024Pooled it
- Designing and Evaluating Digital Mental Health Interventions: Scoping Review.JMIR mental health · 2026Article
- Feasibility and acceptability study of an engagement intervention for family members in early intervention programs for psychosis.Schizophrenia (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Insights from fifteen years of real-world development, testing and implementation of youth digital mental health interventions.Internet interventions · 2025Review
- Article
- Exploring caregiver experiences with the altitudes digital mental health program: A thematic analysis.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
13 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFamily carers of youth recovering from early psychosis experience significant stress; however, access to effective family interventions is poor. Digital interventions provide a promising solution.
objectiveOur objective was to evaluate across multiple Australian early psychosis services the effectiveness of a novel, web-based early psychosis intervention for carers.
methodsIn this cluster randomized controlled trial conducted across multiple Australian early psychosis services, our digital moderated online social therapy for carers (Altitudes) plus enhanced family treatment as usual (TAU) was compared with TAU alone on the primary outcome of perceived stress and secondary outcomes including mental health symptoms and family variables at the 6-month follow-up.
resultsEighty-six caregivers were randomized and data were available for 74 young people in their care. Our primary hypothesis that carers randomized to Altitudes+TAU would report greater improvements in perceived stress at follow-up compared with carers randomized to TAU alone was not supported, with the TAU alone group showing more improvement. For secondary outcomes, the TAU alone group showed improved mindfulness over time. Regardless of group assignment, we observed improvements in satisfaction with life, quality of life, emotional overinvolvement, and burden of care. In contrast, hair cortisol concentration increased. Post hoc analyses revealed more contact with early psychosis services in the intervention group compared to TAU alone and that improvements in perceived stress and social support were associated with use of the intervention in the Altitudes+TAU group. In this study, 80% (12/15) reported a positive experience with Altitudes and 93% (14/15) would recommend it to others.
conclusionsOur trial did not show a treatment effect for Altitudes in perceived stress. However, our post hoc analysis indicated that the amount of use of Altitudes related to improvements in stress and social support. Additional design work is indicated to continue users' engagement and to significantly improve outcomes in problem-solving, communication, and self-care.
trial registrationAustralian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12617000942358; https://trialsearch.who.int/Trial2.aspx?TrialID=ACTRN12617000942358.
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