Bipolar at Risk Trial II (BART II)
Overview
This study is no longer looking for new participants but is still ongoing.
We were looking for people who may be at high risk of developing Bipolar Disorder (BD) to take part in a research trial looking at the possible benefits of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help with difficulties associated with high and/or low mood.
Summary
What is the study about?
BART II is a research trial looking at whether a new kind of CBT is helpful for people who may be at risk of developing Bipolar Disorder (BD). CBT aims to help people to understand and manage their changes in mood, and to improve their quality of life.
BART Animation on Vimeo.
CBT is a talking therapy that has proved helpful for a range of psychological difficulties. The CBT used in the BART trial is based on the idea that how people think about their mood or other factors such as energy levels can lead to cycles of feeling, thinking and behaviour that can escalate, leading to mood swings and episodes continuing.
CBT helps to identify these cycles, and in turn to help people manage changes in mood, and to improve their quality of life. CBT could potentially provide many advantages such as helping people to recover more quickly from difficult experiences and live their lives in the way in which they would like
What are you trying to find out?
Recently criteria have been developed to identify the experiences of individuals who have mood swings and are therefore considered at risk of developing Bipolar Disorder. These criteria are called Bipolar At Risk (BAR). This study would like to extend previous research by using the criteria to identify people with these experiences and find out if offering them a new kind of CBT (called CBTBAR) is helpful.
Why is it important?
For 50% of people in the study we hope that being randomly allocated into the CBTBAR intervention will be helpful. It is possible that the CBTBAR intervention will improve mental health difficulties that you are experiencing. However, this cannot be guaranteed. The information we get from this study may help us in the future to better treat people who have problems related to concerns about mood swings.
In both CBTBAR and the treatment as usual group, there will be regular appointments throughout the year with a research assistant. Participants from our previous BART study reported that these appointments were helpful.
How can I find out more?
This study is no longer looking for new participants but is still ongoing.
You can find out more information about this study by visiting JUICE research unit's project website here. If you have questions for the research team, click the button below to email us:
Meet the researcher
Sophie ParkerDirector of Youth Mental Health Research Unit & Consultant Clinical Psychologist
My name is Sophie Parker and I am the Director of the Youth Mental Health Research Unit at GMMH and a Professor at the University of Manchester. I am working on research with young people to develop understanding and psychological treatments for those at risk of developing long-term mental health difficulties e.g. bipolar disorder, psychosis. I also work nationally and internationally to support the application of these approaches in clinical and research environments.
Collaborators
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