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Background: Most positive psychology interventions conducted in the West have been focused on the individual. Family relationships are highly valued in the Chinese collectivist culture, and it is of interest to know whether family-focused interventions can improve the well-being of Chinese people. We have previously reported the effectiveness of a positive psychology family intervention in terms of family well-being. Based on the data derived from the Happy Family Kitchen II project, this paper examines the effectiveness of a community-based positive psychology family intervention on subjective happiness and health-related quality of life.Methods: Thirty-one social service units and schools organized intervention programs for 2070 participants in Hong Kong. In a cluster randomized controlled trial, participants were randomly assigned on the basis of computer-generated numbers into the intervention group or the control group. The intervention programs emphasized one of five positive psychology themes: joy, gratitude, flow, savoring, and listening. The control group engaged in activities unrelated to the intervention, such as arts and crafts workshops. Subjective happiness and mental and physical quality of life were assessed at baseline and at 4 weeks and 12 weeks postintervention.Results: Data of 1261 participants were analyzed. The results showed that the intervention was more effective than the control condition in improving subjective happiness, with a small effect size, at 12 weeks postintervention (β = .15, p = .020, Cohen's d = .16). However, there were no improvements in mental and physical quality of life in the intervention group compared with the control group at 4 weeks (β = .39, p = .494, d = .05; β = -.10, p = 1.000, d = -.01, respectively) and 12 weeks postintervention (β = .71, p = .233, d = .08; β = -.05, p = 1.000, d = -.01, respectively). Furthermore, the booster session was no more effective than the tea gathering session in improving subjective happiness (β = .00, p = .990, d = .00) or mental (β = 1.20, p = 1.000, d = -.04) and physical quality of life (β = .15, p = 1.000, d = -.01).Conclusions: The analyses extend previous findings of salutary effects on family well-being by showing that positive psychology family interventions can improve subjective happiness. Suggestions for future research are proposed.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01796275 . Retrospectively registered 19 February 2013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clinically effective and cost-effective methods for managing problematic sexual behaviour in adolescents are urgently needed. Adolescents who show problematic sexual behaviour have a range of negative psychosocial outcomes, and they and their parents can experience stigma, hostility and rejection from their community. Multisystemic therapy (MST) shows some evidence for helping to reduce adolescent sexual reoffending and is one of the few promising interventions available to young people who show problematic sexual behaviour. This paper describes the protocol for Services for Teens Engaging in Problem Sexual Behaviour (STEPS-B), a feasibility trial of MST for problem sexual behaviour (MST-PSB) in antisocial adolescents at high risk of out-of-home placement due to problematic sexual behaviour.Methods/design: Eighty participants and their families recruited from five London boroughs will be randomized to MST-PSB or management as usual with follow-up to 20 months post-randomization. The primary outcome is out-of-home placement at 20 months. Secondary outcomes include sexual and non-sexual offending rates and antisocial behaviours, participant well-being, educational outcomes and total service and criminal justice sector costs. Feasibility outcomes include mapping the clinical service pathways needed to recruit adolescents displaying problematic sexual behaviour, acceptability of a randomized controlled trial to the key systems involved in managing these adolescents, and acceptability of the research protocol to young people and their families. Data will be gathered from police computer records, the National Pupil Database and interviews and self-report measures administered to adolescents and parents and will be analysed on an intention-to-treat basis.Discussion: The STEPS-B feasibility trial aims to inform policymakers, commissioners of services and professionals about the potential for implementing MST-PSB as an intervention for adolescents showing problem sexual behaviour. Should MST-PSB show potential, STEPS-B will determine what would be necessary to implement the programme more fully and at a scale that would warrant a full trial.Trial Registration: ISRCTN28441235 (registered 25 January 2012). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There are 600 million girls in low and middle income countries (LMICs), many of whom are at great risk for poor health and education. There is thus great need for programs that can effectively improve wellbeing for these girls. Although many interventions have been developed to address these issues, most focus on health and education without integrating attention to social and emotional factors. This omission is unfortunate, as nascent evidence indicates that these factors are closely related to health and education. This paper describes the methods of a 4-arm randomized controlled trial among 3,560 adolescent girls in rural Bihar, India that tested whether adding an intervention targeting social-emotional issues (based on a "resilience framework") to an adolescent health intervention would improve emotional, social, physical, and educational wellbeing to a greater extent than its components and a control group. Study arms were: (1) Girls First, a combination of the Girls First Resilience Curriculum (RC) and the Girls First Health Curriculum (HC); (2) Girls First Resilience Curriculum (RC) alone; (3) Girls First Health Curriculum (HC) alone; and (4) a school-as-usual control group (SC).Methods: Seventy-six schools were randomized (19 per condition) and 74 local women with a tenth grade education were trained and monitored to facilitate the program. Quantitative data were collected from 3,560 girls over 4 assessment points with very low rates of participant attrition. Qualitative assessments were conducted with a subset of 99 girls and 27 facilitators.Results and Conclusions: In this article, we discuss guiding principles that facilitated trial implementation, including integrating diverse local and non-local sources of knowledge, focusing on flexibility of planning and implementation, prioritizing systematic measurement selection, and striking a balance between scientific rigor and real-world feasibility.Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02429661 . Registered 24 April 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients' treatment expectations are a key factor in psychotherapy. Several studies have linked higher expectations to better treatment success. Therefore, we want to evaluate the impact of a targeted video-based intervention on patients' expectations and the treatment success of inpatient rehabilitation.Methods/design: All patients who will be referred to inpatient psychosomatic rehabilitation in three clinics will receive a study flyer with information about how to log in to the study platform together with the usual clinic information leaflet. Patients will receive the study information and informed consent upon login and will be randomized into the intervention or the control group. The intervention group (n = 394) will get access to our virtual online clinic, containing several videos about inpatient rehabilitation, until their admission to inpatient rehabilitation. The control group (n = 394) will receive no special treatment preparation. Questionnaires will be given at study inclusion (T0), two weeks before admission to (T1), and at the end of (T2) inpatient rehabilitation. The primary outcome is the outcome expectancy measured with the Credibility Expectancy Questionnaire at T1. Secondary outcomes include treatment motivation, mental health, work ability, depression, anxiety, and satisfaction with and usage of the Internet platform.Discussion: We expect the intervention group to benefit from the additional preparation concerning their outcome expectancy. If successful, this approach could be used in the future to enhance the efficacy of inpatient rehabilitation.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02532881 . Registered on 25 August 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Vascular dementia (VaD) is the second most common subtype of dementia after Alzheimer's disease (AD). Currently, there are no medications approved for treating patients with VaD. Fufangdanshen (FFDS) tablets (Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae formula tablets) are a traditional Chinese medicine that has been reported to improve memory. However, the existing evidence for FFDS tablets in clinical practice derives from methodologically flawed studies. To further investigate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of FFDS tables in the treatment of mild to moderate VaD, we designed and reported the methodology for a 24-week randomized, double-blind, parallel, multicenter study.Methods/design: This ongoing study is a double-blind, randomized, parallel placebo-controlled trial. A total of 240 patients with mild to moderate VaD will be enrolled. After a 2-week run-in period, the eligible patients will be randomized to receive either three FFDS or placebo tablets three times per day for 24 weeks, with a follow-up 12 weeks after the last treatment. The primary efficacy measurement will be the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale (ADAS-cog) and the Clinician Interview-Based Impression of Change (CIBIC-plus). The secondary efficacy measurements will include the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and activities of daily living (ADL). Adverse events will also be reported.Discussion: This randomized trial will be the first rigorous study on the efficacy and safety of FFDS tablets for treating cognitive symptoms in patients with VaD using a rational design.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01761227 . Registered on 2 January 2013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]