Transdiagnostic Ultra-brief Behaviour Therapy for Psychiatric Inpatients: a Multiple-baseline Single-case Design

Abstract

There is a need to develop quick and transdiagnostic models for psychological treatment in psychiatric inpatient care. The aim of the present pre-registered study was to investigate the effectiveness of a proposed such model: Transdiagnostic Ultra-Brief Behaviour therapy (TUBB). TUBB uses three behaviour analytic tools (flexible clinical functional analysis, a simplified version of the lifeline exercise, and a maintenance formulation) with the aim of alleviating suffering of psychiatric inpatients. Effects on patients' main presenting problems, quantified using the 'personal questionnaire' (PQ) were tested using a single-case experimental design with three patients on a psychiatric ward. Patients received either two or three 45-minute therapy sessions, and results showed that all patients improved as measured with the PQ. Combined, the data indicated a significant effect of the intervention (Tau = 0.52; p <0.01) with a medium effect size. The PQ proved to be easy to use by ward staff, and yielded data that were both stable and sensitive to change. Whether results generalise and are maintained into outpatient care remains to be investigated.