Developing Peer-Mentored Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Adolescents With Mild-To-Borderline Intellectual Disability and Anxiety: A Qualitative Study.
Iris Langereis, Jasmin Rahemenia, Renske D Pols and 2 others
PMID 42692810WHAT IT FOUND
A qualitative study shaped a new CBT programme for anxious teens with mild-to-borderline intellectual disability using views from 40 stakeholders.
No patient received the treatment; the next step is a pilot test. Nothing here changes what you do on Monday.
Key findings
01Forty stakeholders across four groups (youth, parents, therapists, and peer-mentors with lived experience) generated 15 themes in five topics that were used to modify the peer-mentored CBT intervention.
02Specific modifications incorporated into the intervention include a peer-mentor training programme, a 4-week homework period after the exposure sessions, parental involvement in the cognitive analysis session, the third exposure session, and the homework phase, and aetiology-based screening to determine whether the intervention suits the individual.
03No patient received the intervention in this study. The authors state the next step is a pilot test for feasibility, acceptability, and first signs of effectiveness.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
No patient received the intervention; this is a stakeholder consultation, not a trial. The authors themselves state the next step is a pilot test. Participants had no direct experience of peer-mentored therapy, so their views on how it would work are speculative rather than based on having used it. Youth were recruited from only two mental health care institutions and parents and experts by experience from one, limiting the range of clinical contexts represented. Some participants took part in individual interviews rather than focus groups (three parents, one youth), so the group discussion dynamic was lost for those sessions. No data were collected on the clinical experience or background of the youth and experts by experience, making it harder to judge the weight of their perspectives. The study is qualitative and produces themes and design suggestions, not evidence of effectiveness, safety, or feasibility in patients.
Declared interests
Funded by a ZonMw (Dutch research council) grant (636320013) to Prof. Anika Bexkens. The authors state they have no personal benefit or gain from the research and declare no conflicts of interest. No industry or treatment-provider involvement is reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the stakeholders' positive expectations as evidence that peer-mentored CBT reduces anxiety in youth with mild-to-borderline intellectual disability. No patient received the intervention in this study; the authors state the next step is a pilot test for feasibility and first signs of effectiveness. What you are reading is a design consultation, 40 people describing what they think the programme should look like, not a treatment outcome.