Abstract

Background: Intrusive mental imagery is associated with anxiety and mood instability within bipolar disorder and therefore represents a novel treatment target.

Imagery Based Emotion Regulation (IBER) is a brief structured psychological intervention developed to enable people to use the skills required to regulate the emotional impact of these images.

Methods: Participants aged 18 and over with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and at least a mild level of anxiety were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive IBER plus treatment as usual (IBER +TAU) or treatment as usual alone (TAU).

IBER was delivered in up to 12 sessions overs 16 weeks.

Clinical and health economic data were collected at baseline, end of treatment and 16-weeks follow-up.

Objectives were to inform the recruitment process, timeline and sample size estimate for a definitive trial and to refine trial procedures.

We also explored the impact on participant outcomes of anxiety, depression, mania, and mood stability at 16-weeks and 32-weeks follow-up.

Results: Fifty-seven (28: IBER+TAU, 27: TAU) participants from two sites were randomised, with 50 being recruited within the first 12 months.

Forty-seven (82%) participants provided outcome data at 16 and 32- weeks follow-up.

Thirty-five participants engaged in daily mood monitoring at the 32-week follow-up stage.

Retention in IBER treatment was high with 27 (96%) attending ≥7 sessions.

No study participants experienced a serious adverse event.

Discussion: The feasibility criteria of recruitment, outcome completion, and intervention retention were broadly achieved, indicating that imagery-focused interventions for bipolar disorder are worthy of further investigation.

Citations

Craig Steel, Kim Wright ,Guy M. Goodwin, Judit Simon , Nicola Morant , Rod S Taylor , Michael Brown , Susie Jennings ,Susie A. Hales ,Jemma Regan , Michaela Sibsey , Zoe Thomas ,Lynette Meredith ,Emily A. Holmes,The IBER study: a feasibility randomised controlled trial of Imagery Based Emotion Regulation for the treatment of anxiety in bipolar disorder. Research Square November 2022.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2223249/v1

URI: https://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/orka/title/the-iber-study-a-feasibility-randomised-controlled-trial-of-imagery-based-emotion-regulation-for-the-treatment-of-anxiety-in-bipolar-disorder/