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Background: Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people in remote areas face challenges accessing health-care services, including mental health care and gender-affirming medical treatment, which can be associated with psychological distress. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a 4-month TGD-informed e-health intervention to improve psychological distress among TGD people from remote areas in northern Germany., Methods: In a randomised controlled trial done at a single centre in Germany, adults (aged ≥18 years) who met criteria for gender incongruence or gender dysphoria and who lived at least 50 km outside of Hamburg in one of the northern German federal states were recruited and randomly assigned (1:1) to i 2 TransHealth intervention or a wait list control group. Randomisation was performed with the use of a computer-based code. Due to the nature of the intervention, study participants and clinical staff were aware of treatment allocation, but researchers responsible for data analysis were masked to allocation groups. Study participants in the intervention group (service users) started the i 2 TransHealth intervention immediately after completing the baseline survey after enrolment. Participants assigned to the control group waited 4 months before they were able to access i 2 TransHealth services or regular care. The primary outcome was difference in the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI)-18 summary score between baseline and 4 months, assessed using a linear model analysis. The primary outcome was assessed in the intention-to-treat (ITT) population, which included all randomly assigned participants. The trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04290286., Findings: Between May 12, 2020, and May 2, 2022, 177 TGD people were assessed for eligibility, of whom 174 were included in the ITT population (n=90 in the intervention group, n=84 in the control group). Six participants did not provide data for the primary outcome at 4 months, and thus 168 people were included in the analysis population (88 participants in the intervention group and 80 participants in the control group). At 4 months, in the intervention group, the adjusted mean change in BSI-18 from baseline was -0·65 (95% CI -2·25 to 0·96; p=0·43) compared with 2·34 (0·65 to 4·02; p=0·0069) in the control group. Linear model analysis identified a significant difference at 4 months between the groups with regard to change in BSI-18 summary scores from baseline (between-group difference -2·98 [95% CI -5·31 to -0·65]; p=0·012). Adverse events were rare: there were two suicide attempts and one participant was admitted to hospital in the intervention group, and in the control group, there was one case of self-harm and one case of self-harm followed by hospital admission., Interpretation: The intervention was clinically significant in averting worsening psychological distress in service users, outperforming the wait list control group. These findings support the effectiveness of e-health services in TGD health care, specifically for people from remote areas., Funding: Innovation Committee at the Federal Joint Committee., Translation: For the German translation of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests We declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Stepped, evidence-based and integrated care service models have the potential to be used as a reference for mental health services. RECOVER aimed to evaluate cost savings, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of such a model within a two arm, assessor- and data analysist-blinded RCT in Hamburg, Germany. Participants aged 16-79 years with mental disorders were randomly assigned either to RECOVER or treatment as usual (TAU). Primary outcomes comprised costs, effectiveness (combined symptoms, functioning, quality of life), and cost-effectiveness, hierarchically ordered. Outcomes were evaluated according to the ITT principle, group differences regarding costs with adjusted generalized linear models, effectiveness with ANCOVA models, and cost-effectiveness with the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) and cost-effectiveness acceptability curves (CEACs). Between 1/1/2018 and 12/31/2020, n = 891 were finally included (n = 477 in RECOVER, n = 444 in TAU). RECOVER was associated with significantly lower annual total costs (-22 %), health and social care costs (-25 %) and hospital costs (-50 %). Effectiveness analyses showed a significantly better outcome for RECOVER with the fully imputed data . The CEACs descriptively demonstrated that RECOVER was cost-effective with a probability of >95 %. Treatment in RECOVER resulted in substantial cost reductions with better cost-effectiveness. RECOVER can be recommended as a reference model for comprehensive and integrated mental health services., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest ML: consultant or speaker fees AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Janssen Cilag GmbH, Lundbeck GmbH, Otsuka Pharma GmbH, Roche Deutschland Holding GmbH, Sanovi Aventis, Trommsdorff GmbH & Co KG. AK: consultant or speaker fees from Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Janssen Cilag GmbH, Lundbeck GmbH, Otsuka Pharma GbmH, Laboratorios Farmacéuticos Rovi, Takeda GmbH, Shares of MiNDNET e-Health AG, MiNDNET e-Health-Solutions GmbH JG: speaker fees from Lundbeck GmbH, Otsuka Pharma GmbH, Janssen Cilag GmbH. AR: speaker fees Pfizer Pharma GmbH. CUC: has been a consultant and/or advisor to or has received honoraria from: AbbVie, Acadia, Alkermes, Allergan, Angelini, Aristo, Biogen, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Cardio Diagnostics, Cerevel, CNX Therapeutics, Compass Pathways, Darnitsa, Denovo, Gedeon Richter, Hikma, Holmusk, IntraCellular Therapies, Janssen/J&J, Karuna, LB Pharma, Lundbeck, MedAvante-ProPhase, MedInCell, Merck, Mindpax, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, Mylan, Neurocrine, Neurelis, Newron, Noven, Novo Nordisk, Otsuka, Pharmabrain, PPD Biotech, Recordati, Relmada, Reviva, Rovi, Seqirus, SK Life Science, Sunovion, Sun Pharma, Supernus, Takeda, Teva, and Viatris. He provided expert testimony for Janssen and Otsuka. He served on a Data Safety Monitoring Board for Compass Pathways, Denovo, Lundbeck, Relmada, Reviva, Rovi, Sage, Supernus, Tolmar and Teva. He has received grant support from Janssen and Takeda. He received royalties from UpToDate and is also a stock option holder of Cardio Diagnostics, Mindpax, LB Pharma, PsiloSterics and Quantic. DL: speaker fees Janssen Cilag GmbH All other authors have no conflicts of interest to report. Conflict of Interest or Competing Interest do not exist in relation to the RECOVER study and in relation to the report of the results in this manuscript., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Reconstructing transient states presents significant challenges, particularly within complex pipe networks. These challenges arise due to nonlinear behaviours, inherent uncertainties in the system, and limitations in data availability. This work proposed a novel approach employing Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINN) to reconstruct transient states in pipe networks, even with limited sensor data. To integrate the complex topology of pipe network systems into neural networks, the method integrates the PINN framework with an efficient elastic water column (EWC) model which can be simply formulated across diverse pipe network configurations. The results showed the proposed PINN method can accurately reconstruct the pressure and flow variation at unmonitored locations, even provided with noisy data at a limited number of locations. One of its advantages lies in its ability to effectively capture extreme values that hold potential significance for pipe infrastructure, providing a promising avenue for pipe failure analysis and enhanced safety management. Laboratory experiments have also been conducted to validate the efficacy and reliability of this method, thus further underlining its potential for real-world applications., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Individuals at risk for bipolar disorder (BD) have a wide range of genetic and non-genetic risk factors, like a positive family history of BD or (sub)threshold affective symptoms. Yet, it is unclear whether these individuals at risk and those diagnosed with BD share similar gray matter brain alterations., Methods: In 410 male and female participants aged 17-35 years, we compared gray matter volume (3T MRI) between individuals at risk for BD (as assessed using the EPI bipolar scale; n = 208), patients with a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of BD ( n = 87), and healthy controls ( n = 115) using voxel-based morphometry in SPM12/CAT12. We applied conjunction analyses to identify similarities in gray matter volume alterations in individuals at risk and BD patients, relative to healthy controls. We also performed exploratory whole-brain analyses to identify differences in gray matter volume among groups. ComBat was used to harmonize imaging data from seven sites., Results: Both individuals at risk and BD patients showed larger volumes in the right putamen than healthy controls. Furthermore, individuals at risk had smaller volumes in the right inferior occipital gyrus, and BD patients had larger volumes in the left precuneus, compared to healthy controls. These findings were independent of course of illness (number of lifetime manic and depressive episodes, number of hospitalizations), comorbid diagnoses (major depressive disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorder, eating disorder), familial risk, current disease severity (global functioning, remission status), and current medication intake., Conclusions: Our findings indicate that alterations in the right putamen might constitute a vulnerability marker for BD.

Background: Individuals with bipolar disorder are commonly correctly diagnosed a decade after symptom onset. Machine learning techniques may aid in early recognition and reduce the disease burden. As both individuals at risk and those with a manifest disease display structural brain markers, structural magnetic resonance imaging may provide relevant classification features., Methods: Following a pre-registered protocol, we trained linear support vector machine (SVM) to classify individuals according to their estimated risk for bipolar disorder using regional cortical thickness of help-seeking individuals from seven study sites ( N = 276). We estimated the risk using three state-of-the-art assessment instruments (BPSS-P, BARS, EPI bipolar )., Results: For BPSS-P, SVM achieved a fair performance of Cohen's κ of 0.235 (95% CI 0.11-0.361) and a balanced accuracy of 63.1% (95% CI 55.9-70.3) in the 10-fold cross-validation. In the leave-one-site-out cross-validation, the model performed with a Cohen's κ of 0.128 (95% CI -0.069 to 0.325) and a balanced accuracy of 56.2% (95% CI 44.6-67.8). BARS and EPI bipolar could not be predicted. In post hoc analyses, regional surface area, subcortical volumes as well as hyperparameter optimization did not improve the performance., Conclusions: Individuals at risk for bipolar disorder, as assessed by BPSS-P, display brain structural alterations that can be detected using machine learning. The achieved performance is comparable to previous studies which attempted to classify patients with manifest disease and healthy controls. Unlike previous studies of bipolar risk, our multicenter design permitted a leave-one-site-out cross-validation. Whole-brain cortical thickness seems to be superior to other structural brain features.

Early identification and intervention of individuals with an increased risk for bipolar disorder (BD) may improve the course of illness and prevent long‑term consequences. Early-BipoLife, a multicenter, prospective, naturalistic study, examined risk factors of BD beyond family history in participants aged 15-35 years. At baseline, positively screened help-seeking participants (screenBD at-risk) were recruited at Early Detection Centers and in- and outpatient depression and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) settings, references (Ref) drawn from a representative cohort. Participants reported sociodemographics and medical history and were repeatedly examined regarding psychopathology and the course of risk factors. N = 1,083 screenBD at-risk and n = 172 Ref were eligible for baseline assessment. Within the first two years, n = 31 screenBD at-risk (2.9 %) and none of Ref developed a manifest BD. The cumulative transition risk was 0.0028 at the end of multistep assessment, 0.0169 at 12 and 0.0317 at 24 months (p = 0.021). The transition rate with a BD family history was 6.0 %, 4.7 % in the Early Phase Inventory for bipolar disorders (EPIbipolar), 6.6 % in the Bipolar Prodrome Interview and Symptom Scale-Prospective (BPSS-FP) and 3.2 % with extended Bipolar At-Risk - BARS criteria). In comparison to help-seeking young patients from psychosis detection services, transition rates in screenBD at-risk participants were lower. The findings of Early-BipoLife underscore the importance of considering risk factors beyond family history in order to improved early detection and interventions to prevent/ameliorate related impairment in the course of BD. Large long-term cohort studies are crucial to understand the developmental pathways and long-term course of BD, especially in people at- risk., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest JM, KLB, CB, KL, CS, JM, GJ, AJF, ML, AB, AR, SM, TS, TK, IF, AJ, UD, SKÖ, PFP, LMH, PR, SB, PM, BM and AP state to have no conflict of interest. SKS has received author's and advisory honoraria from Takeda/Shire and Medice Arzneimittel Pütter GmbH in the last 3 years. AR serves on advisory boards and receives speaker's honoraria from Medice, Shire/Takeda, Janssen, neuraxpharm, Servier and SAGE. MB has received grant support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, and the European Commission. He served as a consultant to GH Research, Janssen-Cilag, neuraxpharm, Novartis, Shire International, Sunovion, and Takeda, and received fees from Aristo, Hexal, Janssen-Cilag, and Sunovion. CU Correll has been a consultant and/or advisor to or has received honoraria from: AbbVie, Acadia, Alkermes, Allergan, Angelini, Aristo, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Cardio Diagnostics, Cerevel, CNX Therapeutics, Compass Pathways, Darnitsa, Gedeon Richter, Hikma, Holmusk, IntraCellular Therapies, Janssen/J&J, Karuna, LB Pharma, Lundbeck, MedAvante-ProPhase, MedInCell, Merck, Mindpax, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, Mylan, Neurocrine, Newron, Noven, Novo Nordisk, Otsuka, Pharmabrain, PPD Biotech, Recordati, Relmada, Reviva, Rovi, Seqirus, SK Life Science, Sunovion, Sun Pharma, Supernus, Takeda, Teva, and Viatris. He provided expert testimony for Janssen and Otsuka. He served on a Data Safety Monitoring Board for Compass, Lundbeck, Relmada, Reviva, Rovi, Supernus, and Teva. He has received grant support from Janssen and Takeda. He received royalties from UpToDate and is also a stock option holder of Cardio Diagnostics, Mindpax, LB Pharma and Quantic., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Introduction: Schizophrenia-Spectrum-Disorders are associated with poor long-term outcome as well as disability and often severely affect the lives of patients and their families often from symptom onset. Up to 70% of first episode psychosis (FEP) patients suffer from comorbid substance use disorders (SUD). We aimed at studying the course of illness in FEP patients within evidence-based care, with and without comorbid SUD, to examine how decreased, remitted or persistent substance use impacted rates of a combined symptomatic and functional long-term recovery compared with patients without SUD., Methods: ACCESS III is an integrated care model for FEP or patients in the early phase of non-affective and affective psychotic disorders. Treatment trajectories of patients, who had been in ACCESS care for 1 year, with and without SUD were compared with regard to the course of illness and quality of life using Mixed Model Repeated Measures (MMRM) and recovery rates were compared using binary logistic regression. Change in substance use was coded as either persistent, decreased/remitted or no use., Results: ACCESS III was a prospective 1-year study ( N = 120) in patients aged 12-29 years. Of these, 74 (61.6%) had a comorbid SUD at admission. There were no group differences regarding the course of illness between patients with or without comorbid SUD or between patients with a substance abuse or substance dependence. The only outcome parameter that was affected by SUD was quality of life, with larger improvement found in the group without substance use ( p = 0.05) compared to persistent and remitted users. Using LOCF, 44 patients (48.9%) fulfilled recovery criteria at the endpoint; recovery did not differ based on substance use status., Discussion: SUD and especially substance dependence are common in psychotic disorders even in FEP patients. Evidence-based integrated care led to long-term improvement in patients with comorbid SUD and rate of recovery did not differ for patients with substance use., Competing Interests: ML: Consultant or speaker fees AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Janssen Cilag GmbH, Lundbeck GmbH, Otsuka Pharma GmbH, Roche Deutschland Holding GmbH, Sanovi Aventis, and Trommsdorff GmbH & Co. KG. AK: Consultant or speaker fees from AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Janssen Cilag GmbH, Lundbeck GmbH, Otsuka Pharma GmbH, and Roche Deutschland Holding GmbH. DL: Speaker fees Janssen Cilag GmbH. JG: Speaker fees from Lundbeck GmbH, Otsuka Pharma GmbH, and Janssen Cilag GmbH. DS received honoraria for lectures from, or has been an advisor to, Janssen GmbH, Lundbeck GmbH, Otsuka Pharma GmbH, Recordati, Rovi, and Takeda. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Rühl, Lambert, Rohenkohl, Kraft, Daubmann, Schneider, Luedecke, Karow, Gallinat, Leicht and Schöttle.)

Introduction: Psychotic disorders have a significant impact on patients' lives and their families, and long-term treatment with individually tailored multimodal combinations of therapies is often required. Integrated care (IC) concepts such as the "Hamburg Model (ACCESS)" with a focus on psychotic disorders, includes different (therapeutic) components with pharmaco- and psychotherapy, family involvement, home treatment and the option of using a 24/7 crisis hotline. All components are offered by a therapeutically-oriented assertive community treatment (TACT) team in a need-adapted manner. So far, however, little is known about which specific components are regarded as especially relevant and helpful by the users of IC., Methods: Patients currently participating in IC completed a questionnaire as part of the continuous quality assurance study (ACCESS II) in which they were asked to rate the different components of treatment according to their relevance and helpfulness, considering the individual's unique experiences with IC and needs in mental health care. Furthermore, they were asked to make suggestions regarding additional helpful components of treatment., Results: Fifty patients participated in this survey (23% of the patients currently participating in the IC concept). For participants, the most helpful and important factors were having the same therapist in the long-term and the 24/7 crisis telephone. Additional components suggested by patients included more addiction-specific therapies and increased focus on vocational rehabilitation and integration., Conclusion: From the perspective of the users of IC, long-term care from a trusted therapist with whom there is a therapeutic relationship and the possibility to reach someone they already know from the TACT team 24/7 serves as the best basis for effective care, fostering trust, understanding, and open communication. In contrast, home treatment remains a relevant aspect of evidence-based care for people with severe mental illness, but perhaps surprisingly, is not viewed as the most important issue., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Rohenkohl, Sowada, Lambert, Gallinat, Karow, Lüdecke, Rühl and Schöttle.)

Lithium is regarded as the first-line treatment for bipolar disorder (BD), a severe and disabling mental health disorder that affects about 1% of the population worldwide. Nevertheless, lithium is not consistently effective, with only 30% of patients showing a favorable response to treatment. To provide personalized treatment options for bipolar patients, it is essential to identify prediction biomarkers such as polygenic scores. In this study, we developed a polygenic score for lithium treatment response (Li + PGS ) in patients with BD. To gain further insights into lithium's possible molecular mechanism of action, we performed a genome-wide gene-based analysis. Using polygenic score modeling, via methods incorporating Bayesian regression and continuous shrinkage priors, Li + PGS was developed in the International Consortium of Lithium Genetics cohort (ConLi + Gen: N = 2367) and replicated in the combined PsyCourse (N = 89) and BipoLife (N = 102) studies. The associations of Li + PGS and lithium treatment response - defined in a continuous ALDA scale and a categorical outcome (good response vs. poor response) were tested using regression models, each adjusted for the covariates: age, sex, and the first four genetic principal components. Statistical significance was determined at P < 0.05. Li + PGS was positively associated with lithium treatment response in the ConLi + Gen cohort, in both the categorical (P = 9.8 × 10 - 12 , R 2  = 1.9%) and continuous (P = 6.4 × 10 - 9 , R 2  = 2.6%) outcomes. Compared to bipolar patients in the 1 st decile of the risk distribution, individuals in the 10 th decile had 3.47-fold (95%CI: 2.22-5.47) higher odds of responding favorably to lithium. The results were replicated in the independent cohorts for the categorical treatment outcome (P = 3.9 × 10 - 4 , R 2  = 0.9%), but not for the continuous outcome (P = 0.13). Gene-based analyses revealed 36 candidate genes that are enriched in biological pathways controlled by glutamate and acetylcholine. Li + PGS may be useful in the development of pharmacogenomic testing strategies by enabling a classification of bipolar patients according to their response to treatment., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

The indirect pandemic consequences could by far exceed the direct effects of SARS-CoV-2 in terms of costs, morbidity, and mortality. This essay includes a proposed method (matrix) to visualize virus-related and psychosocial risks for different populations side by side in a systematic and concise manner. COVID-19-related and psychosocial vulnerability, stressors, direct and indirect consequences are derived on a theoretical and empirical basis. An exemplary quantification of the matrix for the vulnerable group of people with severe mental illness revealed a very high risk for severe COVID-19 consequences, as well as a pronounced risk for psychosocial collateral effects. The proposed approach could be further discussed for a risk-graded pandemic management, crisis recovery, and future preparedness to adequately address psychosocial collateral effects and better identify and protect vulnerable groups in this regard., Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Background: Quick symptomatic remission after the onset of psychotic symptoms is critical in schizophrenia treatment, determining the subsequent disease course and recovery. In this context, only every second patient with acute schizophrenia achieves symptomatic remission within three months of initiating antipsychotic treatment. The potential indication extension of clozapine-the most effective antipsychotic-to be introduced at an earlier stage (before treatment-resistance) is supported by several lines of evidence, but respective clinical trials are lacking., Methods: Two hundred-twenty patients with acute non-treatment-resistant schizophrenia will be randomized in this double-blind, 8-week parallel-group multicentric trial to either clozapine or olanzapine. The primary endpoint is the number of patients in symptomatic remission at the end of week 8 according to international consensus criteria ('Andreasen criteria'). Secondary endpoints and other assessments comprise a comprehensive safety assessment (i. e., myocarditis screening), changes in psychopathology, global functioning, cognition, affective symptoms and quality of life, and patients' and relatives' views on treatment., Discussion: This multicentre trial aims to examine whether clozapine is more effective than a highly effective second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs), olanzapine, in acute schizophrenia patients who do not meet the criteria for treatment-naïve or treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Increasing the likelihood to achieve symptomatic remission in acute schizophrenia can improve the overall outcome, reduce disease-associated burden and potentially prevent mid- and long-term disease chronicity., Competing Interests: E. Wagner has been invited to advisory boards from Recordati. W. Strube has received a speaker’s honorarium from Mag&More GmbH and neurocare and was a member of the advisory board of Recordati. A. Hasan has received speakership fees from Lundbeck, Otsuka, Janssen, Rovi, AbbVie and Recordati. He was member of advisory boards of Boehringer Ingelheim, Lundbeck, Otsuka, Janssen, Rovi, and Recordati. M. Lambert has received honoraria for consultancy and speakers’ fees from AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Janssen Cilag GmbH, Lundbeck GmbH, Otsuka Pharma GmbH, Roche Deutschland Holding GmbH, Sanovi Aventis, Trommsdorff GmbH & Co. KG, Takeda Pharma Vertrieb GmbH, and is founder of MiNDNET e-Health-Solutions GmbH. P. Falkai is on the advisory boards and receives speaker fees from Janssen, Lundbeck, Otsuka, Servier and Richter B. Langguth has received honoraria for consultancy and speakers’ fees from ANM, AstraZeneca, Autifony Therapeutics, Decibel Therapeutics, Desyncra, Gerson Lehmanns Group, Lundbeck, Merz, MagVenture, Medical Tribune, Neurolite, Neuromod, Novartis, Pfizer, Rovi, Schwabe, Sea Pharma, Servier, Sonova and Sound Therapeutics; All other co-authors report no conflict of interest., (The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Background: There is limited knowledge of whether cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) should be recommended as the first-line treatment in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHRp)., Hypothesis: To examine whether individual treatment arms are superior to placebo and whether CBT is non-inferior to SGAs in preventing psychosis over 12 months of treatment., Study Design: PREVENT was a blinded, 3-armed, randomized controlled trial comparing CBT to clinical management plus aripiprazole (CM + ARI) or plus placebo (CM + PLC) at 11 CHRp services. The primary outcome was transition to psychosis at 12 months. Analyses were by intention-to-treat., Study Results: Two hundred eighty CHRp individuals were randomized: 129 in CBT, 96 in CM + ARI, and 55 in CM + PLC. In week 52, 21 patients in CBT, 19 in CM + ARI, and 7 in CM + PLC had transitioned to psychosis, with no significant differences between treatment arms (P = .342). Psychopathology and psychosocial functioning levels improved in all treatment arms, with no significant differences., Conclusions: The analysis of the primary outcome transition to psychosis at 12 months and secondary outcomes symptoms and functioning did not demonstrate significant advantages of the active treatments over placebo. The conclusion is that within this trial, neither low-dose aripiprazole nor CBT offered additional benefits over clinical management and placebo., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Introduction: Mental disorders are highly prevalent in Germany, and associated with decreased quality of life for those affected as well as high economic burden for the society. The purpose of this study was to determine the excess costs of mental disorders and to examine how these differ with respect to disease severity., Methods: We analyzed mean 6-month costs using the baseline data from the RECOVER trial in Hamburg, Germany, which evaluates an innovative stepped-care model for mental disorders. Four severity levels were classified based on the current level of mental illness, loss of functioning, and psychiatric diagnosis. In this work, direct costs (outpatient, inpatient, and social/informal care) and indirect costs (sick leave, unemployment, and early retirement) were estimated using interview-based data on health care utilization and productivity losses. Excess costs were determined by matching a comparison group of the German general population without mental disorders. Group differences in sociodemographic covariates and somatic comorbidities were balanced using entropy balancing. Excess costs by severity levels were estimated using generalized linear models (GLM) with gamma distribution and log-link function., Results: Overall, the RECOVER group included n = 816 and the comparison group included n = 3226 individuals. Mean total 6-month excess costs amounted to 19,075€, with higher indirect excess costs (13,331€) than direct excess costs (5744€) in total excess costs. The excess costs increased with increasing disease severity, ranging from 6,123€ with mild disease severity (level 1) to 31,883€ with severe mental illness (level 4). Indirect excess costs ranged from 5612€ in level 1 to 21,399€ in level 4, and were statistically significant for all disease severity levels. In contrast, direct excess costs were only statistically significant for the levels 2 to 4, and ranged from 511€ in level 1 to 10,485€ in level 4. The main cost drivers were hospital stays (level 2-4), sick leave and unemployment (all levels), and early retirement (level 3-4)., Discussion: Mental disorders are associated with high costs that increase with the level of disease severity, which was also shown for individual ICD-10 diagnosis groups. Due to their influence on costs, indirect costs and disease severity levels should be considered in future cost-of-illness studies of mental disorders., Clinical Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov, trial registration number NCT03459664., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: The generic self-reported Recovering Quality of Life (ReQoL) measures were developed for measuring recovery-focused health-related quality of life (HrQoL) in persons with mental health conditions. The aim of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the German version of the ReQoL measures in patients with affective disorders in Germany., Methods: Data from a patient sub-sample in a randomized controlled trial have been used (N = 393). The internal consistency and the test-retest reliability of the ReQoL measures were assessed using Cronbach's Alpha and the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). The concurrent validity and the known-group validity of the ReQoL measures were assessed using Pearson's Correlation coefficient and Cohen's d. The responsiveness was assessed using Glass' Δ and the standardized response mean (SRM)., Results: The reliability among the items of the ReQoL-20 was overall excellent. The ICC of the ReQoL-20 was r = 0.70, indicating moderate test-retest reliability. The concurrent validity of the ReQoL-20 with the clinical measure PHQ-9 was strong with a correlation coefficient of r = - 0.76. The known-group validity of the ReQoL-20 using PHQ-9 cut-off points was large with an effect size of d = 1.63. The ReQoL measures were sensitive to treatment response and remission of symptoms measured by the PHQ-9 with large effect sizes/SRM., Discussion: The psychometric properties of the ReQoL measures for the assessment of patients with affective disorders were overall good. With the ReQoL, valid and reliable measures for the assessment of recovery-focused HrQoL for persons with affective disorders are available in German language., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The pathophysiology of bipolar disorder (BD) remains mostly unclear. Yet, a valid biomarker is necessary to improve upon the early detection of this serious disorder. Patients with manifest BD display reduced volumes of the hippocampal subfields and amygdala nuclei. In this pre-registered analysis, we used structural MRI ( n = 271, 7 sites) to compare volumes of hippocampus, amygdala and their subfields/nuclei between help-seeking subjects divided into risk groups for BD as estimated by BPSS-P, BARS and EPI bipolar . We performed between-group comparisons using linear mixed effects models for all three risk assessment tools. Additionally, we aimed to differentiate the risk groups using a linear support vector machine. We found no significant volume differences between the risk groups for all limbic structures during the main analysis. However, the SVM could still classify subjects at risk according to BPSS-P criteria with a balanced accuracy of 66.90% (95% CI 59.2-74.6) for 10-fold cross-validation and 61.9% (95% CI 52.0-71.9) for leave-one-site-out. Structural alterations of the hippocampus and amygdala may not be as pronounced in young people at risk; nonetheless, machine learning can predict the estimated risk for BD above chance. This suggests that neural changes may not merely be a consequence of BD and may have prognostic clinical value.

Partners in families with a mentally ill parent often experience psychiatric symptoms themselves. Recent studies indicate that there might be overlaps in disorder-specific symptom areas between partners and spouses. This study aimed at examining associations in psychiatric symptoms and symptom coping in partners in families with a mentally ill parent, e.g., having a psychiatric diagnosis according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Furthermore, a moderation of the psychiatric symptoms of the parent with a mental illness on the association in symptom coping was assumed. Families with at least one parent with a mental illness were recruited into the longitudinal "Children of Mentally Ill Parents" (CHIMPS) trial at seven clinical centers in Germany and Switzerland. In total, 139 families were included in the current study. Psychiatric symptoms were assessed using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), Clinical Global Impression scale (CGI), Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), while symptom coping strategies were measured using the Freiburger Fragebogen zur Krankheitsverarbeitung (FKV). Regression analyses have indicated an association in psychiatric symptoms between mentally ill parents and their partners concerning psychosocial functioning, somatic, and stress-related symptoms. Additionally, one symptom coping strategy of the partners was predicted by the same strategy of the parent with a mental illness. The results emphasize the importance of screening and providing support to parents burdened by the mental disorder of their partners, especially regarding the children in these partnerships.

The health-related quality of life (HrQoL) and the recovery process of persons with mental health conditions can be assessed with the Recovering Quality of Life questionnaires (ReQoL-20 and ReQoL-10). The aim of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the German version of the ReQoL measures in patients with anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, stress-related, and somatoform disorders and in patients with disorders of adult personality and behavior. This study was based on a sub-sample of patients that were included in a randomized controlled trial evaluating an evidence-based, stepped and coordinated care service model for mental disorders (RECOVER). The internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's Alpha and the test-retest reliability was assessed by the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). Concurrent validity was assessed by Pearson's Correlation Coefficient and the known-group validity was assessed using the Cohen's d. The internal consistency of the ReQoL-20 and ReQoL-10 was excellent and good with Cronbach's alpha of α = 0.91 and α = 0.83 for all items. The test-retest reliability of the ReQoL measures was moderate with ICC of r = 0.72 to 0.74. The concurrent validity of the ReQoL measures with the Global Severity Index was overall high with a correlation coefficient of r = -0.70. In conclusion, for patients with anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, stress-related, somatoform and personality disorders, the German version of the ReQoL measures is valid and reliable for the assessment of HrQoL and the recovery process., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Children of mentally ill parents represent a particularly vulnerable risk group for the development of mental illness. This study examines whether there is a predictive association between children's psychiatric symptomatology and (1) the clinical diagnosis according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) of their mentally ill parent as well as (2) to families both parents showing psychiatric symptoms. The study is part of the multicenter controlled trial project "Children of Mentally Ill Parents" (CHIMPS). For this purpose, the psychiatric symptomatology of the mentally ill parent (N = 196) and his or her partner (N = 134) as well as the psychiatric symptomatology of their children aged 4 to 18 years (N = 290) was measured using clinical rated ICD-10-diagnosis, self-rated Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Using multilevel analyses, the severity of the parental psychiatric symptomatology (BSI) was identified as a significant predictor of children's psychiatric symptomatology (CBCL). Children of parents with a personality disorder (ICD-10) were not more affected than children of parents with another ICD-10-diagnosis. However, children with two parents showing psychiatric symptoms (CBCL) were significantly more affected than children with one mentally ill parent. The results of this study support the well-known view that parental mental illness is a risk factor for children's psychiatric symptoms. Therefore, increased support, especially in high-risk families, both parents having psychiatric symptoms, is highly necessary and should be implemented in the future psychotherapeutic family care.

Background: Patients with severe psychotic disorders exhibit a severely reduced quality of life (QoL) at all stages of the disease. Integrated care often led to an improvement in QoL. However, the specific mediators of QoL change are not yet well understood., Methods: The ACCESS II study is a prospective, long-term study investigating the effectiveness of an integrated care program for people with severe psychotic disorders (IC-TACT) that includes Therapeutic Assertive Community Treatment within a care network of in- and outpatient services at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany. We examined longitudinal associations between QoL and the hypothesized mediators of change (i.e., negative symptoms, depression, and anxiety), using cross-lagged panel models., Results: The sample includes 418 severely ill patients treated in IC-TACT for at least 1 year. QoL increased, whereas symptom severity decreased significantly from baseline to 6-month follow-up ( p -values ≤ 0.001), and remained stable until 12-month follow-up. QoL and symptom severity demonstrated significant auto-correlated effects and significant cross-lagged effects from QoL at baseline to negative symptoms (6 months, β = -0.20, p < 0.001) to QoL (12 months, β = -0.19, p < 0.01) resulting in a significant indirect, mediated effect. Additionally, negative symptoms after 6 months had a significant effect on the severity of depression after 12 months ( β = 0.13, p < 0.05)., Conclusions: Negative symptoms appear to represent an important mechanism of change in IC-TACT indicating that improvement of QoL could potentially be achieved through optimized intervention on negative symptoms. Moreover, this may lead to a reduction in the severity of depression after 12 months.

Adolescents and young adults with mental illness have an increased risk of long-term unfavourable development and show high clinical severity and multiple psychosocial needs at an early age. In this context, several specific transitional psychiatric treatment services have been developed during the last years. The experience gained so far in adolescent psychiatry shows that a close interdisciplinary cooperation of child and adolescent psychiatry and adult psychiatry is necessary to address interface problems with the aim of a successful transition, as well as to prevent the development of severe and chronicmental illnesses. At the same time, there are many structural and content-related challenges that need to be integrated and addressed. In this review, different treatment models are presented and the requirements for successful transition psychiatry are discussed in the context of the existing evidence.

Background: Home treatment (HT) is a treatment modality for patients with severe mental illness (SMI) in acute mental crises. It is frequently considered equivalent to psychiatric inpatient treatment in terms of treatment outcome. Peer Support (PS) means that people with lived experience of a mental illness are trained to support others on their way towards recovery. While PS is growing in international importance and despite a growing number of studies supporting its benefits, it is still not comprehensively implemented into routine care. The HoPe (Home Treatment with Peer Support) study investigates a combination of both - HT and PS - to provide further evidence for a recovery-oriented treatment of psychiatric patients., Methods: In our randomized controlled trial (RCT), HT with PS is compared with HT without PS within a network of eight psychiatric clinical centers from the North, South and East of Germany. We investigate the effects of a combination of both approaches with respect to the prevention of relapse/recurrence defined as first hospitalization after randomization (primary outcome), disease severity, general functioning, self-efficacy, psychosocial health, stigma resistance, recovery support, and service satisfaction (secondary outcomes). A sample of 286 patients will be assessed at baseline after admission to HT care (data point t 0 ) and randomized into the intervention (HT + PS) and control arm (HT). Follow-Up assessments will be conducted 2, 6 and 12 months after admission (resulting in three further data points, t 1 to t 3 ) and will be analyzed via intention-to-treat approach., Discussion: This study may determine the positive effects of PS added to HT, prove additional evidence for the efficacy of PS and thereby facilitate its further implementation into psychiatric settings. The aim is to improve quality of mental health care and patients' recovery as well as to reduce the risk of relapses and hospitalizations for patients with SMI., Trial Registration: The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04336527 , April 7, 2020., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Purpose: Studies on outcomes mapping Quality of Life (QoL) as patient-reported outcome over a longer period in severe psychotic disorders are scarce. However, such data would be particularly important for structuring, implementing and operating effective and efficient care models and for promoting satisfaction with care, service engagement and adherence., Methods: The ACCESS II study is a prospective long-term study of an integrated care model for people with severe psychotic disorders. The model includes Therapeutic Assertive Community Treatment within a cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary network. This publication analyses the course of QoL assessed with the Q-LES-Q-18 using a mixed model for repeated measures., Results: Mapping the course of QoL in N = 329 participants, there is a significant increase in the first 6 weeks of treatment (early course). Comparison to a published norm show significant lower QoL for severe psychotic disorders. The variable having a traumatic event before the age of 18 was significantly negatively associated with QoL. A decrease in the severity of depressive as well as in positive symptomatology in the first six weeks after admission was associated with increase of QoL., Conclusion: Results indicate that the overall symptom burden at time of inclusion is not decisive for the perceived QoL in the long-term course while the reduction in the severity of depressive and positive symptoms is important. This means focusing even more on the treatment of depressive symptoms and include traumatherapeutic aspects in the long-term treatment of severe psychotic disorders if needed., Trail Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier: NCT01888627)., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Attenuated positive symptoms (APS), transient psychotic-like symptoms (brief, limited intermittent psychotic symptoms, BLIPS), and predictive cognitive-perceptive basic-symptoms (BS) criteria can help identify a help-seeking population of young people at clinical high-risk of a first episode psychosis (CHRp). Phenomenological, there are substantial differences between BS and APS or BLIPS. BS do not feature psychotic content as delusion or hallucinations, and reality testing is preserved. One fundamental problem in the psychopathology of CHRp is to understand how the non-psychotic BS are related to APS. To explore the interrelationship of APS and predictive BS, we fitted a network analysis to a dataset of 231 patients at CHRp, aged 24.4 years (SD = 5.3) with 65% male. Particular emphasis was placed on points of interaction (bridge symptoms) between the two criteria sets. The BS 'unstable ideas of reference' and "inability to discriminate between imagination and reality" interacted with attenuated delusional ideation. Perceptual BS were linked to perceptual APS. Albeit central for the network, predictive cognitive basic BS were relatively isolated from APS. Our analysis provides empirical support for existing theoretical accounts that interaction between the distinct phenomenological domains of BS and APS is characterized by impairments in source monitoring and perspective-taking. Identifying bridge symptoms between the symptom domains holds the potential to empirically advance the etiological understanding of psychosis and pave the way for tailored clinical interventions., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

In water pipeline systems, monitoring and predicting hydraulic transient events are important to ensure the proper operation of pressure control devices (e.g., pressure reducing valves) and prevent potential damages to the network infrastructure. Simulating transient pressures using traditional numerical methods, however, require a complete model with known boundary and initial conditions, which is rarely able to obtain in a real system. This paper proposes a new physics-based and data-driven method for targeted transient pressure reconstruction without the need of having a complete pipe system model. The new method formulates a physics-informed neural network (PINN) by incorporating both measured data and physical laws of the transient flow in the training process. This enables the PINN to learn and explore hidden information of the hydraulic transient (e.g., boundary conditions and wave damping characteristics) that is embedded in the measured data. The trained PINN can then be used to predict transient pressures at any location of the pipeline. Results from two numerical and one experimental case studies showed a high accuracy of the pressure reconstruction using the proposed approach. In addition, a series of sensitivity analyses have been conducted to determine the optimal hyperparameters in the PINN and to understand the effects of the sensor configuration on the model performance., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Purpose: To investigate long-term complications after pediatric cataract surgery with implantation of a heparin-coated polymethyl methacrylate intraocular lens (PMMA IOL) and posterior continuous curvilinear capsulorhexis (PCCC) with anterior vitrectomy vs PCCC without anterior vitrectomy with optic capture buttonholing., Setting: Department of Ophthalmology, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany., Design: Prospective randomized clinical trial., Methods: Eyes with unilateral or bilateral congenital cataract without further pathologies or former surgeries were randomly assigned in 2 groups: cataract removal, IOL implantation, and PCCC with anterior vitrectomy (group A) or posterior optic buttonholing without anterior vitrectomy (group B). The main outcome measures were posterior capsule opacification (PCO), complication rates, and refractive development., Results: 58 eyes of 41 pediatric cataract surgery patients were included. The mean age at the time of operation was 66.05 months (±29.39). In group A (n = 26), 2 eyes required treatment for PCO, whereas the optic axis remained clear in all eyes in group B (n = 30), which was statistically insignificant. In addition, group B had a slightly lower rate of complications. The mean spherical equivalent after a mean postoperative follow-up of 6.5 years was -0.11 ± 2.51 diopters (D) (-5.0 to +4.0 D) in group A and -0.08 ± 2.14 D (-5.0 to +4.0 D) in group B, which was also statistically insignificant., Conclusions: Optic capture with a heparin-coated PMMA IOL proved to be a safe technique in the prevention of secondary cataract formation without a higher rate of complications and the necessity of vitrectomy., (Copyright © 2021 Published by Wolters Kluwer on behalf of ASCRS and ESCRS.)

Background: Specialist early intervention (SEI) service models are designed to treat symptoms, promote social and vocational recovery, prevent relapse, and resource and up-skill patients and their families. The benefits of SEI over the first few years have been demonstrated. While early recovery can be expected to translate to better long-term outcomes by analogy with other illnesses, there is limited evidence to support this from follow-up studies. The current study involves the long-term follow-up of a sub-set of first episode psychosis (FEP) patients, with a range of diagnoses, who were first treated at Orygen's Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre (EPPIC) between 1998 and 2000. The aim of this paper is to present the methodology for this follow-up study., Methods: Between January 1998 and December 2000, 786 patients between the ages of 15-29 years were treated at EPPIC, located in Melbourne, Australia. Our cohort consists of 661 people (82 were transferred/discharged and 43 were not diagnosed with a psychotic disorder at time of discharge). The 18-month treatment characteristics of this cohort have been extensively examined in the First Episode Psychosis Outcome Study (FEPOS). The ≥15 year outcomes of this cohort are being examined in this study, known as FEPOS15., Results: Participant follow-up is ongoing. In order to extend and assess broader outcomes of the cohort, data linkage with health-related databases will be conducted., Conclusion: This study will provide a comprehensive evaluation of the long-term trajectory of psychotic disorders after treatment for FEP in a SEI service., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Background: Long-acting antipsychotics (e.g. 1-monthly (PP1M) / 3-monthly (PP3M) injection forms of paliperidone palmitate) have been developed to improve treatment continuation in schizophrenia patients. We aim to assess risk factors of treatment discontinuation of patients on paliperidone palmitate and risperidone microsphere. Additionally, treatment discontinuation between patients with PP1M and PP3M was compared., Methods: The IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription databases were used. Risk factors of treatment discontinuation were identified by a multilevel survival regression using Cox proportional hazards model. Kaplan Meier analyses were performed by identified significant risk factors., Results: Twenty-five thousand three hundred sixty-one patients (France: 9,720; Germany: 14,461; Belgium: 1,180) were included. Over a one-year follow-up period, a significant lower treatment discontinuation was observed for patients newly initiated on paliperidone palmitate (53.8%) than those on risperidone microspheres (85.4%). Additionally, a significantly lower treatment discontinuation was found for 'stable' PP3M patients (19.2%) than 'stable' PP1M patients (37.1%). Patients were more likely to discontinue when drugs were prescribed by GP only (HR = 1.68, p < 0.001 vs. psychiatrist only) or if they were female (HR = 1.07, p < 0.001), whereas discontinuation decreased with age (31-50 years: HR = 0.95, p = 0.006 and > 50 years: HR = 0.91, p < 0.001 vs. 18-30 years)., Conclusions: This study demonstrates that patients stay significantly longer on treatment when initiated on paliperidone palmitate as compared to risperidone microspheres. It also indicated a higher treatment continuation of PP3M over PP1M. Treatment continuation is likely to be improved by empowering GPs with mental health knowledge and managing patients by a collaborative primary care-mental health model. Further research is needed to understand why females and younger patients have more treatment discontinuation., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Objective: There is a lack of existing research regarding young people with bipolar I disorder (BD-I) and psychotic features, who are not in education, employment, and training (NEET). Thus, the aims of the study were to: (a) establish rates of NEET at service entry to a specialist early intervention service; (b) delineate premorbid and current variables associated with NEET status at service entry and (c) examine correlates of NEET status at discharge., Method: Medical file audit methodology was utilized to collect information on 118 patients with first episode psychotic mania treated at the Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre (EPPIC), Melbourne, Australia. NEET status was determined using the modified vocation status index (MVCI). Bivariate and multivariable logistic variables were used to examine relationships between premorbid, service entry and treatment variables, and NEET status at service entry and discharge., Results: The NEET rate was 33.9% at service entry, and 39.2% at discharge. Variables associated with NEET status at service entry were premorbid functioning and polysubstance use. NEET status at service entry was the only significant correlate of NEET status at discharge. When service entry NEET was taken out of the model, substance use during treatment was predictive of NEET status at discharge., Conclusions: NEET status at service entry was related to a history of premorbid decline, and risk factors such as substance use and forensic issues. NEET status can decline during treatment, and utility of vocational intervention programs specifically for BD, in addition to specialist early intervention, needs to be examined., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

To investigate the longitudinal latent state-trait structure of the different dimensions of psychosis symptoms in clinical high-risk state (CHRS) and first episode psychosis (FEP) individuals over a one year time-span. This paper examines if the symptom clusters Positive Symptoms, Negative Symptoms, Affectivity, Resistance, Activation, and Excitement according to the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) differ in their trait and state characters in 196 CHRS and 131 FEP individuals. Statistical analysis was performed using latent state-trait analysis. On average, trait differences accounted for 72.2% of Positive Symptoms, 81.1% of Negative Symptoms, 57.0% of Affectivity, and 69.2% of Activation, whereas 15.0% of the variance of Resistance and 13.2% of the variance of Excitement were explained by trait differences. Explorative analyses showed a trait components' increase of 0.408 in Positive Symptoms from baseline up to the 9th month and an increase of 0.521 in Affectivity from baseline up to the 6th month. Negative Symptoms had the highest trait component levels of all subscales between baseline and 6 months. The finding that an increasing proportion of psychosis symptoms is persisting over time underlines the importance of early intervention programs in individuals with psychotic disorders., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Integrated care according to the Hamburg model combines therapeutic assertive community treatment (TACT) with initiatives for early detection and early treatment of schizophrenia and affective psychoses. The aim of this study was to identify the clinical characteristics of adolescents in comparison to adult patients and to derive knowledge for transition-specific treatment approaches., Methodology: Sociodemographic and clinical variables as well as treatment performance and clinical outcome were investigated over a period of 12 months in 167 patients with psychoses (16-25 years, n = 88; and >25 years, n = 79)., Results: Patients with psychosis in adolescence had significantly more outpatient treatment contacts (3.5/week vs. 1.6/week; p < 0.001), while adults were hospitalized for twice as long (10 days vs. 21 days; p = 0.003). The duration of untreated psychoses was significantly shorter in the adolescent group than in adults (122 weeks vs. 208 weeks; p = 0.002). The proportion of comorbid mental disorders was significantly higher in the adolescent group (87% vs. 63%; p < 0.001). In addition, the adolescence patients already showed greater impairment of daily functions and a higher severity of illness at the start of treatment., Discussion: The treatment of psychoses in adolescence was characterized by a particularly high need for flexibility across all sectors and support systems, taking comorbid problem areas into account. Care models for adolescents and young adults with psychoses should therefore combine treatment approaches for severely ill patients with transition psychiatric interventions to avoid breaks in care and to meet the complex requirements of young patients with severe mental illnesses., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.)

Purpose: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) can be reduced in parents with mental illness (mental illness) who face the dual demands of disabling symptoms and their impact on family, social, and occupational life. This study aimed at analyzing the influence of various factors on HRQoL in parents with mental illness. Method: Baseline data of the German randomized controlled multicenter project CHIMPS (children of parents with mental illness) was used for analyses. The final sample consisted of n = 208 parents with mental illness and n = 197 children and adolescents aged 8-18 years. HRQoL was assessed with the EQ-5D. Results: Parents with mental illness reported significantly lower global and specific HRQoL than the German reference population. They were least satisfied with aspects that relate to anxiety and depression followed by usual activities, pain and discomfort. Better global HRQoL was primarily associated with self-reported physical and mental health, as well as adaptive coping behavior. Associations with mobility, self-care, usual activity, pain and discomfort, anxiety and depression were analyzed and discussed. Conclusions: HRQoL in parents with mental illness is reduced. Clinical interventions should focus on the alleviation of mental health symptoms and probably somatic symptoms and promote adaptive coping skills., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Radicke, Sell, Adema, Daubmann, Kilian, Busmann, Winter, Lambert, Wegscheider and Wiegand-Grefe.)

The relevance of coping behavior for the individual's own mental health has been widely investigated. However, research on the association between coping of parents with a mental illness and their children's mental health is scarce. In the current study, we address the role of several parental coping strategies and their relation to child psychological symptoms. As part of the German randomized controlled multicenter study CHIMPS (children of mentally ill parents), parents with mental illness completed questionnaires on illness-related coping and child mental health symptoms. Children's diagnoses of a mental disorder were assessed with diagnostic interviews. The sample comprised n = 195 parents with mental illness and n = 290 children and adolescents aged 4-18 years. We conducted mixed models to investigate the associations of parental coping strategies with internalizing and externalizing symptoms as well as the diagnosis of a mental disorder in children controlling for sociodemographic factors and parental symptom severity. Parental coping characterized by religiosity and quest for meaning was significantly associated with fewer mental health symptoms and lower odds of a mental disorder in children, whereas a depressed processing style was related to increased internalizing problems in the children. Coping behavior in parents with mental illness is a relevant factor for the mental health of their children and should be considered in preventive interventions., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Sell, Radicke, Adema, Daubmann, Kilian, Stiawa, Busmann, Winter, Lambert, Wegscheider, Plass-Christl and Wiegand-Grefe.)

In psychiatry, there has been a growing focus on identifying at-risk populations. For schizophrenia, these efforts have led to the development of early recognition and intervention measures. Despite a similar disease burden, the populations at risk of bipolar disorder have not been sufficiently characterized. Within the BipoLife consortium, we used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from a multicenter study to assess structural gray matter alterations in N = 263 help-seeking individuals from seven study sites. We defined the risk using the EPIbipolar assessment tool as no-risk, low-risk, and high-risk and used a region-of-interest approach (ROI) based on the results of two large-scale multicenter studies of bipolar disorder by the ENIGMA working group. We detected significant differences in the thickness of the left pars opercularis (Cohen's d = 0.47, p = 0.024) between groups. The cortex was significantly thinner in high-risk individuals compared to those in the no-risk group (p = 0.011). We detected no differences in the hippocampal volume. Exploratory analyses revealed no significant differences in other cortical or subcortical regions. The thinner cortex in help-seeking individuals at risk of bipolar disorder is in line with previous findings in patients with the established disorder and corresponds to the region of the highest effect size in the ENIGMA study of cortical alterations. Structural alterations in prefrontal cortex might be a trait marker of bipolar risk. This is the largest structural MRI study of help-seeking individuals at increased risk of bipolar disorder., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Offspring of mentally ill parents is at heightened risk for psychological symptoms. The identification of environmental factors that predict their mental health is crucial for the development of preventive and therapeutic measures. In the current study, we addressed the combined role of family functioning and social support by taking mentally ill patients', their partners', and children's perspectives into account. The cross-sectional sample included n =195 families (195 patients, 127 partners, and 295 children). Family members completed questionnaires related to family functioning, social support as well as parental and child psychopathology. We conducted multilevel analyses to investigate the associations with internalizing and externalizing problems in children. Family functioning and social support were significantly associated with child internalizing and externalizing problems. However, results varied depending on the rating perspective. We found significant interaction effects of family functioning and social support on child psychopathology. The findings point to the importance of family functioning and social support as potential targets for interventions. Findings should be replicated in future longitudinal studies., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Sell, Barkmann, Adema, Daubmann, Kilian, Stiawa, Busmann, Winter, Lambert, Wegscheider and Wiegand-Grefe.)

Family functioning is often impaired in families with a parent with mental illness and is linked to child mental health. This study aims to gain a better understanding of family functioning in affected families by comparing ratings among family members and by analyzing associations with clinician-rated family functioning. The cross-sectional sample comprised 210 families with ratings of 207 patients, 139 partners, and 100 children. Parents with a mental illness as well as their partners and children completed the German version of the Family Assessment Measure (FAM). Clinician ratings were obtained by the Global Assessment of Relational Functioning Scale (GARF). We conducted several mixed models to compare ratings of family functioning while accounting for family cluster. Family dysfunction was consistently elevated compared to a normative sample. On several domains, parents with a mental illness perceived family functioning to be worse compared to their partners and children. Partners and children did not differ in their perceptions of family functioning. Ratings of family members were moderately associated with clinician ratings. We discuss the importance of multi-informant assessment of family functioning and the implementation of family-based interventions for families with a parent with mental illness.

Purpose: This pragmatic clinical study aimed to assess goal attainment among patients with schizophrenia treated with paliperidone palmitate 3-monthly (PP3M) and its relation to their level of disability, and whether patients achieved symptomatic remission at the study endpoint., Patients and Methods: Goal attainment was assessed as a secondary endpoint using Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) within a 52-week, prospective, single-arm, non-randomized, open-label, international, multicenter study evaluating the impact of transitioning stable patients with schizophrenia from paliperidone palmitate 1-monthly (PP1M) to PP3M. Additional exploratory analyses were performed to investigate the relationship between disability and functioning as measured by the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS), Version 2.0, symptomatic remission, and goal attainment., Results: Overall, 305 patients were enrolled, of whom 281 (92.1%) provided GAS data at baseline. Of these, 160 achieved symptomatic remission at the last observation carried forward (LOCF) endpoint. The most common category of goals was "self" related, of which work-related was most frequent. Two-thirds of patients (67.7%) achieved at least one goal at the LOCF endpoint. Goal achievement was positively associated with lower baseline symptoms and symptomatic remission at LOCF endpoint, and with lower WHODAS scores at baseline and LOCF endpoint and greater WHODAS score improvements from baseline. Age, duration of disease, and duration of PP1M treatment before the switch did not impact goal setting and goal attainment. The proportion of patients with remunerated work status increased by 11.3% at LOCF endpoint., Conclusion: The results of this secondary endpoint analysis indicate that continued treatment of patients with schizophrenia with PP3M following stabilization with PP1M may facilitate attainment of patients' personal goals and reduce disability, especially, but not exclusively, in patients with symptomatic remission achieved at LOCF., Competing Interests: M Lambert reports personal fees from Janssen-Cilag during the conduct of the study; personal fees from AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Janssen Cilag GmbH, Lundbeck GmbH, Otsuka Pharma GmbH, Roche Deutschland Holding GmbH, Sanofi Aventis and Trommsdorff GmbH & Co KG. P Bergmans, S Gopal, M Mathews, A Wooller, and K Pungor are full-time employees of Janssen and stockholders of Johnson & Johnson. P Sanchez reports personal fees from Janssen-Cilag during the conduct of the study; personal fees from Janssen, Lundbeck, Otsuka, Casen-Recordati, Angelini, Adamed, Exeltis, Osakidetza and Ferrer, and grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III, outside the submitted work. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2020 Lambert et al.)

Objective: Most patients with bipolar disorders (BD) exhibit prodromal symptoms before a first (hypo)manic episode. Patients with clinically significant symptoms fulfilling at-risk criteria for serious mental illness (SMI) require effective and safe treatment. Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy (CBT) has shown promising results in early stages of BD and in patients at high risk for psychosis. We aimed to investigate whether group CBT can improve symptoms and functional deficits in young patients at risk for SMI presenting with subthreshold bipolar symptoms., Method: In a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial, patients at clinical risk for SMI presenting with subthreshold bipolar symptoms aged 15-30 years were randomized to 14 weeks of at-risk for BD-specific group CBT or unstructured group meetings. Primary efficacy endpoints were differences in affective symptomatology and psychosocial functioning at 14 weeks. At-risk status was defined as a combination of subthreshold bipolar symptomatology, reduction of psychosocial functioning and a family history for (schizo)affective disorders. A prespecified interim analysis was conducted at 75% of the targeted sample., Results: Of 128 screened participants, 75 were randomized to group CBT (n = 38, completers = 65.8%) vs unstructured group meetings (n = 37, completers = 78.4%). Affective symptomatology and psychosocial functioning improved significantly at week 14 (P < .001) and during 6 months (P < .001) in both groups, without significant between-group differences. Findings are limited by the interim character of the analysis, the use of not fully validated early detection interviews, a newly adapted intervention manual, and the substantial drop-outs., Conclusions: Results suggest that young patients at-risk for SMI presenting with subthreshold bipolar symptoms benefit from early group sessions. The degree of specificity and psychotherapeutic interaction needed requires clarification., (© 2020 The Authors. Bipolar Disorders published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objectives: People with psychotic disorders have a high prevalence of comorbid mental disorders, especially if severe mental illness (SMI) criteria are fulfilled. Substance Use Disorders (SUD) are the most common comorbidity. The aim of the study is to investigate whether SMI patients with and without comorbid SUD have a comparable course, remission and recovery rates within evidence-based care., Methods: ACCESS is an integrated care model for patients with severe nonaffective and affective psychotic disorders. Treatment trajectories of patients, who have been in ACCESS care for at least 4 years, with and without SUD were compared with regard to the course of illness using Mixed Model Repeated Measures (MMRM) as well as recovery rates and its predictors., Results: 187 of 312 patients (60%) were at least 4 years in ACCESS. Of these, 126 (67.4%) had a comorbid SUD at admission. Patients had on average 2.96 SUD, 87 (69%) had a dependence. Both groups improved significantly over 4 years in all outcome parameters. However, patients with substance dependence showed significantly worse outcomes in psychopathology (p < 0.001), functioning (p = 0.006) and quality of life (p = 0.026). Using LOCF, 44 patients (23.5%) fulfilled recovery criteria at endpoint. Comorbid substance use dependence was the only significant predictor for non-recovery (OR = 0.462, p = 0.048)., Conclusion: SUD and especially substance dependence are common in psychotic disorders with SMI. Evidence-based integrated care also leads to long-term improvement in these patients, but to a lesser extent than in patients without SUD. In particular, the "optimal" outcome recovery is made more difficult by SUD dependence., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Nothing to declare: Friederike Ruppelt, Anja Rohenkohl, Vivien Kraft, Romy Schröter, Julia Gaianigo, Nathalie Werkle, Anne Daubmann. Daniel Schöttle: No conflicts with respect to the present trial and article. In general: DS has been a consultant and/or advisor to or has received honoraria from Astra Zeneca, Otsuka Pharma GmbH, Lundbeck GmbH, Janssen Cilag and Shire. DS has been a consultant and/or advisor to or has received honoraria from Shire, Takeda, Novartis and Medice. Anne Karow: No conflicts with respect to the present trial and article. In general: Prof. Karow has been consultant and/or advisor to or has received honoraria from: AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Janssen Cilag GmbH, Lundbeck GmbH, Otsuka Pharma GmbH, Roche Deutschland Holding GmbH. Martin Lambert: No conflicts with respect to the present trial and article. In general: Lectures: AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Janssen Cilag GmbH, Lundbeck GmbH, Otsuka Pharma GmbH, Roche Deutschland Holding GmbH, Sanovi Aventis; Grants: AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Janssen Cilag GmbH, Lundbeck, Sanovi Aventis; Consultancy: AstraZeneca, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Janssen Cilag GmbH, Roche Deutschland Holding GmbH, Trommsdorff GmbH & Co. KG. No conflicts with respect to the present trial and article., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Bipolar disorders (BD) belong to the most severe mental disorders, characterized by an early onset and recurrent, severe episodes or a chronic course with poor psychosocial functioning in a proportion of patients. Many patients with BD experience substantial symptomatology months or even years before full BD manifestation. Adequate diagnosis and treatment is often delayed, which is associated with a worse outcome. This study aims to prospectively evaluate and improve early recognition and intervention strategies for persons at-risk for BD., Methods: Early-BipoLife is a prospective-longitudinal cohort study of 1419 participants (aged 15-35 years) with at least five waves of assessment over a period of at least 2 years (baseline, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months). A research consortium of ten university and teaching hospitals across Germany conducts this study. The following risk groups (RGs) were recruited: RG I: help-seeking youth and young adults consulting early recognition centres/facilities presenting ≥ 1 of the proposed risk factors for BD, RG II: in-/outpatients with unipolar depressive syndrome, and RG III: in-/outpatients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The reference cohort was selected from the German representative IMAGEN cohort. Over the study period, the natural course of risk and resilience factors, early symptoms of BD and changes of symptom severity (including conversion to manifest BD) are observed. Psychometric properties of recently developed, structured instruments on potential risk factors for conversion to BD and subsyndromal symptomatology (Bipolar Prodrome Symptom Scale, Bipolar at-risk criteria, EPIbipolar) and biomarkers that potentially improve prediction are investigated. Moreover, actual treatment recommendations are monitored in the participating specialized services and compared to recently postulated clinical categorization and treatment guidance in the field of early BD., Discussion: Findings from this study will contribute to an improved knowledge about the natural course of BD, from the onset of first noticeable symptoms (precursors) to fully developed BD, and about mechanisms of conversion from subthreshold to manifest BD. Moreover, these generated data will provide information for the development of evidence-based guidelines for early-targeted detection and preventive intervention for people at risk for BD.

Competing Interests: K. Leopold hat Vortragshonorare von AstraZeneca, BMS, Janssen-Cilag, Lilly, Lundbeck, Otsuka Pharma und Pfizer erhalten, außerdem erhielt sie Forschungszuwendungen von AstraZeneca, Janssen-Cilag und Otsuka Pharma.F. Kiefer hat Vortragshonorare und Reisekostenunterstützung von Lundbeck erhalten.W. de Millas hat Beraterhonorare von Lundbeck und Otsuka sowie Vortragshonorare von Lundbeck, Otsuka und Johnson & Johnson erhalten. Außerdem hat er Klinische Prüfungen für Roche sowie Johnson & Johnson durchgeführt und Veranstaltungs-Sponsoring von Medtronic erhalten.W. Janetzky ist Mitarbeiter von Lundbeck GmbH, Hamburg.M. Lambert hat Vortragshonorare von AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Janssen Cilag GmbH, Lundbeck GmbH, Otsuka Pharma GmbH, Roche Deutschland Holding GmbH, Sanovi Aventis erhalten. Er erhielt zudem Studienunterstützung von AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Janssen Cilag GmbH, Lundbeck und Sanovi Aventis. Außerdem hat er Beraterhononare von AstraZeneca, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Janssen Cilag GmbH, Roche Deutschland Holding GmbH, Trommsdorff GmbH & Co. KG erhalten.A. Pfennig hat Vortragshonorare und Reisekostenzuschüsse der Firmen Janssen-Cilag und Lundbeck erhalten.A. Bechdolf hat Forschungsunterstützung erhalten von der Deutschen Forschungsgesellschaft (DFG), Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), NARSAD, der medizinischen Fakultät der Universität Köln und für Investigator Initiated Trials (IITs) von Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen und Otsuka. Er hat Sprecherhonorare und Reiseunterstützung von Janssen, Otsuka und Lundbeck erhalten.

In Germany, psychoses are still diagnosed too late. The average duration of untreated psychosis is (DUP) one year. Early intervention should, therefore, be given higher priority. The shorter the duration of the DUP, the higher the probability of permanent recovery and a better long-term prognosis. Public education work and specialised early detection centres with low-threshold access can improve care and thus the prospects of patients, mostly young, and already in the early phase of the disease. In addition to anti-psychotic therapy, evidence-based psychotherapeutic procedures, family and peer work, as well as accompanying offers are necessary to support patients individually in being or remaining reintegrated into the labour market ("Individual Placement and Support", IPS). While in some countries, such as Denmark and Australia, the possibility of early intervention is already part of standard care, Germany has not yet gone beyond model projects. Changing this must be one of the main objectives for the coming years. With this review, the authors would therefore like to encourage further thinking and action., Competing Interests: K. Leopold hat Vortragshonorare von AstraZeneca, BMS, Janssen-Cilag, Lilly, Lundbeck, Otsuka Pharma und Pfizer erhalten, außerdem erhielt sie Forschungszuwendungen von AstraZeneca, Janssen-Cilag und Otsuka Pharma.F. Kiefer hat Vortragshonorare und Reisekostenunterstützung von Lundbeck erhalten.W. de Millas hat Beraterhonorare von Lundbeck und Otsuka sowie Vortragshonorare von Lundbeck, Otsuka und Johnson & Johnson erhalten. Außerdem hat er Klinische Prüfungen für Roche sowie Johnson & Johnson durchgeführt und Veranstaltungs-Sponsoring von Medtronic erhalten.W. Janetzky ist Mitarbeiter von Lundbeck GmbH, Hamburg.M. Lambert hat Vortragshonorare von AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Janssen Cilag GmbH, Lundbeck GmbH, Otsuka Pharma GmbH, Roche Deutschland Holding GmbH, Sanovi Aventis erhalten. Er erhielt zudem Studienunterstützung von AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Janssen Cilag GmbH, Lundbeck und Sanovi Aventis. Außerdem hat er Beraterhononare von AstraZeneca, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Janssen Cilag GmbH, Roche Deutschland Holding GmbH, Trommsdorff GmbH & Co. KG erhalten.A. Pfennig hat Vortragshonorare und Reisekostenzuschüsse der Firmen Janssen-Cilag und Lundbeck erhalten.A. Bechdolf hat Forschungsunterstützung erhalten von der Deutschen Forschungsgesellschaft (DFG), Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), NARSAD, der medizinischen Fakultät der Universität Köln und für Investigator Initiated Trials (IITs) von Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen und Otsuka. Er hat Sprecherhonorare und Reiseunterstützung von Janssen, Otsuka und Lundbeck erhalten., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Introduction: Healthcare systems around the world are looking for solutions to the growing problem of mental disorders. RECOVER is the synonym for an evidence-based, stepped and cross-sectoral coordinated care service model for mental disorders. RECOVER implements a cross-sectoral network with managed care, comprehensive psychological, somatic and social diagnostics, crisis resolution and a general structure of four severity levels, each with assigned evidence-based therapy models (eg, assertive community treatment) and therapies (eg, psychotherapy). The study rationale is the investigation of the effectiveness and efficiency of stepped and integrated care in comparison to standard care., Methods and Analysis: The trial is conducted in accordance to the Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials Statement. The study aims to compare the RECOVER model with treatment as usual (TAU). The following questions are examined: Does RECOVER reduce healthcare costs compared with TAU? Does RECOVER improve patient-relevant outcomes? Is RECOVER cost-effective compared with TAU? A total sample of 890 patients with mental disorders will be assessed at baseline and individually randomised into RECOVER or TAU. Follow-up assessments are conducted after 6 and 12 months. As primary outcomes, cost reduction, improvement in symptoms, daily functioning and quality of life as well as cost-effectiveness ratios will be measured. In addition, several secondary outcomes will be assessed. Primary and secondary outcomes are evaluated according to the intention-to-treat principle. Mixed linear or logistic regression models are used with the direct maximum likelihood estimation procedure which results in unbiassed estimators under the missing-at-random assumption. Costs due to healthcare utilisation and productivity losses are evaluated using difference-in-difference regressions., Ethics and Dissemination: Ethical approval from the ethics committee of the Hamburg Medical Association has been obtained (PV5672). The results will be disseminated to service users and their families via the media, to healthcare professionals via professional training and meetings and to researchers via conferences and publications., Trial Registration Number and Registry Name: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03459664), RECOVER PROTOCOL VERSION: 19 March 2020 (V.3.0)., Competing Interests: Competing interests: ML: consultant or speaker fees AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Janssen Cilag GmbH, Lundbeck GmbH, Otsuka Pharma GmbH, Roche Deutschland Holding GmbH, Sanovi Aventis, Trommsdorff GmbH & Co KG. AK: consultant or speaker fees from AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Janssen Cilag GmbH, Lundbeck GmbH, Otsuka Pharma GmbH, Roche Deutschland Holding GmbH. JG: speaker fees from Lundbeck GmbH, Otsuka Pharma GmbH, Janssen Cilag GmbH. DL: speaker fees Janssen Cilag GmbH., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Healthcare research in the living environment is focused on the scientific investigation of care, which is delivered in the personal environment of those affected by diseases., Objective: Presentation of the healthcare policy starting position, content and evidence of forms of care by which treatment focuses on the living environment of affected persons. Presentation of the RECOVER model, by which these forms of care are integrated and coordinated in a care model., Material and Methods: Literature search on "care or treatment models" and "psychiatric disease" over the last 10 years., Results: Many experts are calling for the introduction of integrated and coordinated care as well as the digitalization of the healthcare system as essential future solutions. Evidence-based forms of care, which have a main focus on the living environment of those concerned, play an important role here. These include, for example early diagnosis and treatment of psychoses (early psychosis services, EPS), crisis resolution team (CRT), assertive community treatment (ACT), supported employment (SE) and e‑mental health. With the exception of CRT, which can be financed as a hospital ward equivalent treatment according to §§ 39 and 115d (German Social Code V, SGB V), many of these treatment models are not yet part of standard care in Germany. In an integrated and coordinated care system these components work together in a meaningful and coordinated manner in defined care processes. This approach is currently being tested using the so-called RECOVER model, a severity level, evidence-based and cross-sectoral coordinated care model, where implementation, testing and transfer from 2017-2020 will be promoted by the Innovation Fund of the Joint Federal Committee (G-BA).

Objective: The ACCESS treatment model offers assertive community treatment (ACT) embedded in an integrated care program to patients with severe psychotic disorders. Compared to standard care, it proved to be more effective in terms of service disengagement and other outcomes in patients with psychotic disorders over 12, 24, and 48 months. Many patients with severe mental disorders experience involuntary admissions which can be potentially traumatic. In this study, we assessed the effect of ACT on reducing involuntary admissions over an observation period of 4 years. Method: One hundred seventy-one patients treated in ACCESS were included in this study. The primary outcome was rate of involuntary admissions during 48 months. Secondary outcomes were differences between those with and without involuntary admissions in the 2 years prior to ACCESS regarding change of psychopathology, severity of illness, psychosocial functioning, quality of life, satisfaction with care, medication non-adherence, and service-disengagement. Results: Of 171 patients, 58 patients (33.9%) were involuntarily admitted to hospital in the past 2 years before entry. During the 4 years of treatment, 16 patients (9.4%) were involuntarily admitted to hospital which was a significantly lower rate compared to the 2 years before inclusion in ACCESS (p < .001). Comparing the two groups, larger improvements in severity of illness (p = .004) and functional status (p = .043) were detected in the group with no history of involuntary admissions. At 4-year follow-up, of the remaining patients, 69.2% (n = 81) were full adherent (p < .001), compared to 18.9% (n = 31) at baseline with no differences between the two groups over the study period (p = .25). Over 4 years, only 13 patients (13.2%) were service-disengaged due to non-practical reasons. Conclusions: In this long-term study, we were able to demonstrate a reduction in involuntary admissions in four treatment years compared to the 2 years prior to admission to the ACCESS model in patients with severe and mostly multiphase schizophrenia spectrum disorders and affective disorders with psychotic features. This may help prevent patients from suffering from a potentially traumatic experience during treatment in the psychiatric system. Clinical Trial Registration: www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT01888627., (Copyright © 2019 Schöttle, Ruppelt, Schimmelmann, Karow, Bussopulos, Gallinat, Wiedemann, Luedecke, Rohenkohl, Huber, Bock and Lambert.)

Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder. Hence, the mental health system faces enormous structural, therapeutic, and health-economic challenges. Innovative models of healthcare can facilitate making treatment more efficient and effective.This paper aims to give an overview of evidence-based and innovative models of care and treatment for schizophrenia and severe mental illnesses. For this purpose, we performed a literature search covering the last 10 years of publications regarding "care or treatment models" and "schizophrenia," "psychosis," or "severe mental illness."Many publications do not provide details about the tested care model. Innovative care models for schizophrenia comprise early psychosis services (EPSs) or models for severe mental illnesses (SMI) integrating, combining and/or developing the treatment models crisis resolution team (CRT), assertive community treatment (ACT), and/or (intensive) case management (ICM). For illustration, the innovative models Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre (EPPIC) in Australia, the Flexible Assertive Community Treatment model in the Netherlands, and the Therapeutic Assertive Community Treatment model in Hamburg are explained. All three models regularly offer integrated, specialized, and assertive care.In Germany, innovative models of care have not been implemented sufficiently: neither EPS nor ACT are part of standard care; CRT can now be funded by health insurances via "ward-equivalent treatment" as defined by a new German law (§§ 39 und 115d SGB V). Regarding the implementation of CRT and ACT in Germany, a clinical study evaluating the RECOVER model is underway. This is a stepped-care, trans-sectorally coordinated and evidence-based treatment model, the evaluation of which is supported by the innovation fund of the Joint Federal Committee (Gemeinsamen Bundesausschuss, G‑BA) from 2017 to 2020.

Background: The objective of this study is to test the conflicting theories concerning the association of negative self and other schemata and paranoid ideation., Methods: A risk-based approach, including risk stratification, is used to gain insight into the association of the negative self and other schemata that may be shared by individuals or differentiate between individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for a first-episode psychosis and those with full-blown psychosis. The dataset includes a sample of individuals at CHR (n = 137) and a sample of individuals with persisting positive symptoms (PPS, n = 211). The CHR sample was subdivided according to a prognostic index yielding 4 CHR sub-classes with increasing risk for transition to psychosis., Results: Negative beliefs about the self were associated with paranoid ideation in CHR and a lower risk state. In the highest risk state and full-blown psychosis, there is an association with negative beliefs about others., Conclusion: These findings are in line with theories suggesting a switch from a predominantly activated negative self-schema to a malevolent others-schema in association with paranoid ideation along the risk-continuum. However, due to methodological limitations these results should be replicated by future studies., (© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Iron oxides and their hydroxides have been studied and analysed with properties of their mutual transformations under different hydrothermal conditions being indicated. Amorphous bacteria nanowires produced from biofilm waste were investigated under the influence of pH at a fixed duration (20 h) and reaction temperature (200 °C). The morphology, structure, and particle size of the transformation of hematite (α-Fe 2 O 3 ) was obtained and characterised with SEM, XRD, FTIR, and particle sizer. The optimal conditions for the complete conversion of amorphous iron oxide nanowires to crystalline α-Fe 2 O 3 is under acidic conditions where the pH is 1. The flower-like α-Fe 2 O 3 structures have photocatalytic activity and adsorbent properties for heavy metal ions. This one-pot synthesis approach to produce α-Fe 2 O 3 at a low cost would be greatly applicable to the recycling process of biofilm waste in order to benefit the environment., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)