Trajectories of occupational & social functioning in people with recent onset non-affective psychosis enrolled in specialized early intervention services in New York state

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Amplify OnTrackNY publication summaries summarize peer-reviewed publications focused on quality improvement or research conducted to help us learn & improve the program.

Study snapshot

Improving OnTrackNY participants' ability to maintain relationships and perform tasks needed at school and work are important goals of OnTrackNY. This study helps us understand patterns of change in these abilities.¹  

This study asks:

1. What are the typical changes seen over time in OnTrackNY participants' ability to maintain relationships and perform tasks needed for school and work?
2. What factors are associated with different patterns of change over time in these abilities?
3. What is the connection between different patterns of change in these abilities and symptoms?

This study is based on data from 937 OnTrackNY participants. Demographics and information on relationships and ability to perform school and work-related tasks were collected by teams at program entry and every three months after.

Study findings

Finding 1. Four different patterns of change in ability to maintain relationships and perform tasks needed for school and work were observed in participants during their first year in OnTrackNY:

• a group whose abilities (high social and low occupational) eventually became more equal a group whose abilities (high social and high occupational) remained high over time
• a group whose abilities (moderate social and moderate occupational) remained so
• a group whose abilities (low social and low occupational) improved slowly

Finding 2. Female gender, more formal education, and having private insurance were associated with better ability to maintain relationships and perform tasks needed for school and work. Living alone, being homeless, and using cannabis at program start were associated with less ability in these areas.

Figure 1: Average reports of symptoms for those showing different ability trends converge over time.

Final thoughts

Most participants in OnTrackNY showed a stable or improving ability to maintain relationships and perform tasks related to school and work over the first year in the program. Despite this, a majority still report moderate difficulty in these skills at one year. These areas may be key targets for early intervention. OnTrackNY supports inclusive and recovery-oriented language, and we recognize that some of the terminology used in academic papers is not always consistent with this value.

References

1. Van der Ven E, Scodes J, Basaraba C, Pauselli L, Mascayano F, Nossel I, Bello I, Humensky J, Susser E, Wall M, Dixon L. Trajectories of occupational and social functioning in people with recent-onset non-affective psychosis enrolled in specialized early intervention services across New York state. Schizophrenia Research. 2020; 50920- 9964(20)30331-5.

 

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