Does adjunctive family therapy enhance recovery from bipolar I mood episodes?

Background: Family therapy is sometimes used as adjunctive treatment to pharmacotherapy to help patients recover from mood episodes of bipolar I disorder. However, the efficacy of this practice is not known. Methods: Ninety-two patients meeting criteria for a current bipolar I mood episode were rand...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of affective disorders 2004-11, Vol.82 (3), p.431-436
Main Authors: Miller, Ivan W., Solomon, David A., Ryan, Christine E., Keitner, Gabor I.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Associated treatments
Biological and medical sciences
Bipolar Disorder - therapy
Bipolar I disorder
Combined Modality Therapy
Drug Therapy - methods
Family psychotherapy. Systemic therapy
Family therapy
Family Therapy - methods
Female
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychotherapies. Psychological and clinical counseling
Recovery
Treatments
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Summary:Background: Family therapy is sometimes used as adjunctive treatment to pharmacotherapy to help patients recover from mood episodes of bipolar I disorder. However, the efficacy of this practice is not known. Methods: Ninety-two patients meeting criteria for a current bipolar I mood episode were randomly assigned to family therapy plus pharmacotherapy, multifamily psychoeducational group therapy plus pharmacotherapy, or pharmacotherapy alone. Time to recovery was analyzed with survival analysis. Results: The proportion of subjects within each treatment group who recovered did not significantly differ, nor did time to recovery. Limitations: The analyses did not include other outcomes such as psychosocial functioning, prophylaxis against recurrences of mood episodes, or compliance with pharmacotherapy. Conclusions: Neither adjunctive family therapy nor adjunctive multifamily psychoeducational group therapy significantly improves the rate of recovery from mood episodes of bipolar I disorder, compared to treatment with pharmacotherapy alone.
ISSN:0165-0327
1573-2517
DOI:10.1016/j.jad.2004.01.010