A novel intervention for self-criticism in a primary care psychological therapies service

: Feasibility study

Abstract

Introduction: Self-criticism is a transdiagnostic process observed across common mental health disorders, which are treated within primary mental healthcare services, Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) in England. This study evaluated the acceptability, feasibility, preliminary indications of effectiveness, and potential mechanisms of change of a Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) based intervention for self-criticism in IAPT patients. The intervention was adapted from one which had shown promising results with self-critical university students (Rose, McIntyre & Rimes, 2018). Method: Six-sessions of weekly individual sessions and two-month follow-up were provided to 20 IAPT patients within a double-baseline uncontrolled study. Acceptability and feasibility were evaluated using recruitment and retention information together with participant and therapist feedback. Standardised questionnaires were collected at screening, weekly sessions, and followup to measure different facets of self-criticism (primary outcomes); depression, anxiety, functional impairment, and self-esteem (secondary outcomes); and self-compassion, selfreassurance, and beliefs about the unacceptability of negative emotions (process measures). Results: Recruitment / retention rates and feedback suggested that the intervention was acceptable and feasible to deliver in an IAPT service. Compared to pre-treatment, significant improvements with medium to large effect sizes were found on all measures at post-treatment and at follow-up. Furthermore, the magnitude of change in self-criticism and depression between pre- and post-treatment was significantly larger than between screening and pretreatment. Reductions in self-criticism were significantly correlated with improvements in selfcompassion and beliefs about the unacceptability of negative emotions. Conclusion: This appears to be a promising transdiagnostic intervention for self-criticism in IAPT patients that warrants further investigation in a randomised controlled clinical trial.

Date of Award	2018
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	King's College London
Supervisor	Katharine Rimes (Supervisor) & Janet Wingrove (Supervisor)