Multifamily therapy in the community mental health network: A pragmatic randomized and controlled study

• Published in: Journal of marital and family therapy 2023-01, Vol.49 (1), p.205-221
• Main Authors: Domínguez Vázquez, Iria, Nuño Gómez, Laura, Freixa Fontanals, Neus, Hidalgo Arjona, Carmen, Cervera, Gemma, Corominas Díaz, Antoni, Balcells‐Oliveró, Mercè
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adults; Alcohol Abuse; Child Abuse; Community management; Community mental health services; community outpatient treatment; Community Relations; Control Groups; Drug use; Eating disorders; Emergency medical care; Emergency services; Experimental Groups; Families & family life; Family Counseling; Family Relationship; Family therapy; Group Therapy; Health problems; Health Services; Hospitalization; Hospitals; Humans; Mental disorders; Mental Disorders - psychology; Mental Disorders - therapy; Mental Health; Mental Health Programs; mental health services; multifamily therapy; Outpatient treatment; Parents & parenting; Patients; Personality Problems; Pragmatics; Primary care; Principals; Psychiatry; Psychosis; Psychotherapy; Recruitment; Resistance (Psychology); Schizophrenia; Semiotics; severe mental disorder; Social Networks; Substance Abuse; Substance use disorder; System theory; Systems Approach
• ISSN: 0194-472X; 1752-0606
• DOI: 10.1111/jmft.12617

Multifamily therapy (MFT) is a psychotherapeutic group intervention for patients with severe mental disorders (SMDs) and their families. The present study is a multicenter, randomized, and controlled trial that analyzes the benefit of MFT during outpatient treatment. The recruited patients were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n = 26), which received 24 MFT sessions in addition to their treatment as usual (TAU), or to the control group (n = 29), which received only TAU (individual and family sessions). Six months after the inclusion in the MFT, the experimental group showed a significant decrease in number of visits to the psychiatric emergency services, number of psychiatric admissions, and the days of admission. The need for hospital care 6 months after recruitment was also lower in the experimental group compared to the control group. These results suggest that the implementation of MFT during outpatient treatment facilitates community management of people diagnosed with mental health problems.