Question: For people identified as experiencing a first episode of psychosis, how effective are family-based interventions compared with any other or no intervention in improving all recovery outcomes?

Answer:

Plain Language Summary

Only one suitably designed research project has looked exclusively at a family intervention for people experiencing a first episode of psychosis. The results showed no benefit of family intervention on any recovery outcomes, but we don't know if this is accurate or misleading because of weaknesses in the study.

Clinical and research implications

One small, poor quality randomised controlled trial, with a high drop-out rate, found that a brief educational and advice intervention for carers of people experiencing first episode psychosis had no significant effect on outcomes for patients or carers. However, the findings of this study are unlikely to be reliable and further research is needed to adequately assess the effects of the range of family-based interventions available on outcomes for people with first episode psychosis.

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