Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40358872›Full record

ArticleHealth & justice2025

Acceptability and feasibility of Problem Management Plus to address mental health problems among remand prisoners in the Netherlands: a pilot randomised controlled trial protocol.

Mathilde J F van Oudenaren, Anke B Witteveen, Anja J E Dirkzwager, Marit Sijbrandij

Registry-linked trialAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Health & justice, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05927987 (Feasibility and Acceptability of Problem Management Plus), which is not on this map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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.

NCT05927987 nacompletednot on this map

Feasibility and Acceptability of Problem Management Plus (PM+) for Prisoners in the Netherlands - a Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorVU University of AmsterdamRan2024 to 2026Enrolled56ConditionsAnxiety Disorders, Psychological Distress, Depressive DisorderArmsProblem Management Plus (PM+)
3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Mathilde J F van OudenarenVrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands. M.j.f.van.oudenaren@vu.nl.
Anke B WitteveenVrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Anja J E DirkzwagerVrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Marit SijbrandijVrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWorldwide, the prevalence of mental health problems in prison populations is higher than in the general population. While prisons may provide opportunities to address mental health problems, the prison setting can also include obstacles to the actual delivery of interventions, such as mental health care staff deficiencies. A brief scalable psychological intervention such as the World Health Organization's (WHO) Problem Management Plus (PM +) intervention, which is delivered by trained non-specialists, could be valuable in addressing common mental health problems in the prison setting. The primary aim of the study is to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of PM + , adapted for use in Dutch remand prisons. The secondary aim is to examine barriers and facilitators for scaling up the adapted version of PM + in the Dutch prison setting.

methodThis single-blind pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) will compare individual PM + with care-as-usual (PM + /CAU) to CAU only. Dutch-speaking remand prisoners (18 years or older; N = 60) who report an elevated level of psychological distress (K10 ≥ 16) will be included. The feasibility of the intervention will be reviewed using different measures such as recruitment success, intervention retention, protocol adherence, number of serious adverse events, and stakeholders' views. Participants will be assessed for self-reported anxiety, depression, self-identified problems, vulnerability for suicide and self-harm behaviour and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms at baseline, one-week post-intervention and three-month follow-up. The pilot RCT will be followed by a process evaluation. For the process evaluation, stakeholders will be interviewed (N = 25), including 1) RCT participants, 2) PM + helpers, supervisors and trainers, 3) prison professionals, and 4) family members & friends of RCT participants. Data of the process evaluation will be analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. DISCUSSION: This pilot RCT will be the first to study the potential of WHO-developed scalable interventions aimed at reducing mental health problems within (Dutch) prisons. Results from this study could subsequently inform a potential full-powered RCT.

trial registrationThis trial is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (number NCT05927987) on 13/06/2023.

Indexed as

AnxietyCommon mental health problemsDepressionDetaineesProtocolRandomised controlled trialRemand prisonScalable interventions

Identifiers

PMID40358872
PMCPMC12070529

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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.