Investigating beliefs and goal appraisals in severe mental illness
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating beliefs and goal appraisals in individuals with experiences of mental health difficulties
IRAS ID
194694
Contact name
Peter Taylor
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Liverpool
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Following an experience of mental health problems (e.g. psychosis) individuals go through a process of trying to make sense of these experiences in terms of what they mean for their current and future selves. This often results in the formation of negative beliefs (e.g., I will never get a job) which have been associated with distress (e.g., depression). In addition, for some people, experiences like psychosis might affect the goals that matter to them, in that they may appear less achievable.
This research will be the first to integrate the literature on goal pursuit and health beliefs. It aims to understand i) how beliefs about severe mental illness (SMI) and personal goals compare in two critical stages of SMI, the prodromal stage and rehabilitation stage, ii) how beliefs about SMI and goal appraisals change over the course of an individual’s interaction with rehabilitation services, iii) to assess if a relationship exists between negative beliefs, goals and distress.
We will recruit from two stages of SMI, the prodromal stage involving those with a putative at risk mental state and the rehabilitation stage (e.g. individual receiving support from rehabilitation services for severe mental health difficulties). In this research SMI covers schizophrenia spectrum disorders and bipolar disorders. In study one eligible participants (ARMS and Rehab group) will be required to complete a number of questionnaire based measures (e.g. those relating to negative beliefs) and a short goal task (this will involve generating a number of important goals and then rating them on expectancy, for example). Study two will follow-up the rehab sample over a nine month period. During this time measures related to beliefs, goals,social networks and distress will be taken every 6 weeks via an interview. Staff beliefs will also be assed to explore the relationship between staff and service user beliefs.REC name
North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/NW/0005
Date of REC Opinion
16 Feb 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion