Support for young people who are distressed by hearing voices: Protocol for an uncontrolled feasibility evaluation of a psychological intervention package delivered within secondary schools (the ECHOES study)

Hayward, Mark, John, Mary, Parry, Sarah, Bibby-Jones, Anna-Marie, Orchard, Faith, Malpass, Fiona, Dixon, Clare and Naito, Akira (2025) Support for young people who are distressed by hearing voices: Protocol for an uncontrolled feasibility evaluation of a psychological intervention package delivered within secondary schools (the ECHOES study). Pilot and Feasibility Studies, 11. ISSN 2055-5784

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Abstract

Background: Hearing voices is a common experience for young people and can cause significant distress. There are no evidence-based psychological interventions for distressing voices in young people, although a focus on coping strategies has been suggested as a useful approach. We have developed and evaluated a brief 1:1 coping intervention for young people who hear distressing voices. This intervention has been successfully piloted within Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), together with a psychoeducational workshop for parents. The 1:1 intervention and the workshop will be combined into an intervention package and offered within schools to maximise accessibility. Methods: This study will be an uncontrolled feasibility evaluation addressing the following questions: is the intervention package acceptable to young people, those who support them, and staff and practitioners within secondary schools? What is the optimum content, structure, and duration for the intervention package? Is delivery of the intervention package feasible for the practitioners and what are their requirements for training and supervision? What tools can be used to evaluate the impact of the intervention package? The study will be guided by the MRC Framework for the development of complex interventions and consist of an iterative process over four phases: phase 1—adaptation of the intervention package with young people, parents, and school staff; phase 2—delivery of the intervention package through Mental Health Support Teams to students, supporters who have been nominated by the students and school staff; phase 3—analysis of quantitative and qualitative data collected from participants and practitioners; phase 4—further adaptation of the intervention package with young people, parents and school staff. Discussion: If the findings from the study suggest that a future trial is warranted, a feasibility Randomised Controlled Trial will be designed to establish the parameters for a definitive trial. Trial registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN registration number: 16395888. Registered on 11 January 2024. 10.1186/ISRCTN16395888.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Data availability statement: Only anonymised data may be shared outside of the research team. A data-sharing agreement will be set up with individuals who are outside of the research team and who request to use the study data. The Chief Investigator can give approval for data-sharing requests. The possibility of data sharing will be made explicit to participants on the study consent form. The Participant’s personal details will not be shared with anyone outside of the research team. All data-sharing processes will adhere to the 2018 GDPR. Funding information: This project is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) under its Research for Patient Benefit (project number 204939) Programme. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	2* ,/dk/atira/pure/researchoutput/REFrank/2_
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	27 Mar 2025 14:30
Last Modified:	27 Apr 2025 06:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/98897
DOI:	10.1186/s40814-025-01611-x

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