Family interventions for relapse preventions in people with schizophrenia

Family interventions for relapse preventions in people with schizophrenia: Systematic review and network meta-analysis

The project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) (FKZ 01KG1803).

This project investigates the effect and acceptance of family interventions in the relapse prevention of schizophrenia.

Evidence on family interventions for patients with schizophrenia suggests they serve as a protective factor against psychotic exacerbations and hospitalizations. Various family intervention models exist, including psychoeducational, behavioral, systemic, and other approaches. However, it remains unclear which model is most effective for preventing relapse.

The network meta-analysis method enables estimation of effect sizes for all possible comparisons of different family interventions, regardless of whether they were directly compared in a trial, allowing a comprehensive review of all available evidence.

The protocol of the study was registered a-priori in Prospero under the number CRD42020169951 (see here).

The results of the project were published in The Lancet Psychiatry:

Rodolico A*, Bighelli I*, Avanzato C, Concerto C, Cutrufelli P, Mineo L, Schneider-Thoma J, Siafis S, Signorelli MS, Wu H, Wang D, Furukawa TA, Pitschel-Walz G, Aguglia E, Leucht S. Family interventions for relapse prevention in schizophrenia: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Lancet Psychiatry. 2022 Mar;9(3):211-221. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00437-5. Epub 2022 Jan 31. Erratum in: Lancet Psychiatry. 2022 Feb 23;: PMID: 35093198. (Link) (*Jointly co-first authors)

The project was primarily conducted by Dr. Alessandro Rodolico and Dr. Irene Bighelli, contact: alessandro.rodolico@phd.unict.it

Supervisor: Professor Stefan Leucht