Trial tribulations: Lessons learned from an unsuccessful pilot trial of Behavioural Activation in young people with early or emerging psychosis at a regional mental health service.

Catalao Dionisio Murta, J; Nic Giolla Easpaig, B; Byrne, MK; Gray, R; Jones, M; Mitchell, D; Creek, R; Brown, E; Tan, J-YB; Dennis, S; Bressington, D

Trial tribulations: Lessons learned from an unsuccessful pilot trial of Behavioural Activation in young people with early or emerging psychosis at a regional mental health service.

Catalao Dionisio Murta, J

Nic Giolla Easpaig, B Byrne, MK Gray, R Jones, M Mitchell, D Creek, R Brown, E Tan, J-YB Dennis, S Bressington, D

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Publisher:: SAGE Publications
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Australas Psychiatry, 2026, pp. 10398562261436366
Issue Date:: 2026-04-02

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Catalao Dionisio Murta, J https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2826-3339
dc.contributor.author	Nic Giolla Easpaig, B
dc.contributor.author	Byrne, MK
dc.contributor.author	Gray, R
dc.contributor.author	Jones, M
dc.contributor.author	Mitchell, D
dc.contributor.author	Creek, R
dc.contributor.author	Brown, E
dc.contributor.author	Tan, J-YB
dc.contributor.author	Dennis, S
dc.contributor.author	Bressington, D
dc.date.accessioned	2026-06-01T05:00:30Z
dc.date.available	2026-06-01T05:00:30Z
dc.date.issued	2026-04-02
dc.identifier.citation	Australas Psychiatry, 2026, pp. 10398562261436366
dc.identifier.issn	1039-8562
dc.identifier.issn	1440-1665
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/195200
dc.description.abstract	AimThe experience of conducting an unsuccessful pilot trial of behavioural activation (BA) to improve depressive symptoms in young clients with early or emerging psychosis is reported on. We aimed to identify barriers and enablers to inform the conduct of future trials with this client group.MethodsClinicians completed BA training with the aim of delivering this to suitable clients. Feasibility outcomes were calculated as proportions of feasibility targets. The various stages of the pilot randomised trial were examined, informed by interviews with five young people with early or emerging psychosis and four clinicians. Interviews were content analysed.ResultsClient recruitment and retention targets were not met, with proportions of 10% and 50%, respectively. Barriers included 'clinician self-efficacy in recruitment', 'staff turnover', the 'fragility of young people's engagement with the service', and 'workload incurred from study involvement'. The enablers were 'clients' and clinicians' perceived potential to contribute to new evidence', 'the clinician-client relationship', and 'opportunities to provide feedback to the research team'.ConclusionsRecommendations for future similar studies include pre-trial stakeholder consultation; offering multiple cycles of training; support to grow clinician confidence for recruitment; accounting for increased workload; and ongoing service-research team meetings to identify solutions to emerging issues.
dc.language	eng
dc.publisher	SAGE Publications
dc.relation.ispartof	Australas Psychiatry
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1177/10398562261436366
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	11 Medical and Health Sciences, 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
dc.subject.classification	Psychiatry
dc.subject.classification	32 Biomedical and clinical sciences
dc.subject.classification	42 Health sciences
dc.subject.classification	52 Psychology
dc.title	Trial tribulations: Lessons learned from an unsuccessful pilot trial of Behavioural Activation in young people with early or emerging psychosis at a regional mental health service.
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.location.activity	England
utslib.for	11 Medical and Health Sciences
utslib.for	17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/Institute For Sustainable Futures
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/Research Division Related HDR Students
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.rights.license	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
dc.date.updated	2026-06-01T05:00:28Z
pubs.publication-status	Published online

Abstract:

AimThe experience of conducting an unsuccessful pilot trial of behavioural activation (BA) to improve depressive symptoms in young clients with early or emerging psychosis is reported on. We aimed to identify barriers and enablers to inform the conduct of future trials with this client group.MethodsClinicians completed BA training with the aim of delivering this to suitable clients. Feasibility outcomes were calculated as proportions of feasibility targets. The various stages of the pilot randomised trial were examined, informed by interviews with five young people with early or emerging psychosis and four clinicians. Interviews were content analysed.ResultsClient recruitment and retention targets were not met, with proportions of 10% and 50%, respectively. Barriers included 'clinician self-efficacy in recruitment', 'staff turnover', the 'fragility of young people's engagement with the service', and 'workload incurred from study involvement'. The enablers were 'clients' and clinicians' perceived potential to contribute to new evidence', 'the clinician-client relationship', and 'opportunities to provide feedback to the research team'.ConclusionsRecommendations for future similar studies include pre-trial stakeholder consultation; offering multiple cycles of training; support to grow clinician confidence for recruitment; accounting for increased workload; and ongoing service-research team meetings to identify solutions to emerging issues.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/195200