The present study examined the benefit of a transdiagnostic prevention program, Super Skills for ... more The present study examined the benefit of a transdiagnostic prevention program, Super Skills for Life (SSL), among adolescents with internalizing and/or externalizing problems in two types of school settings (mainstream school and pupil referral unit) using a randomized waitlist-controlled trial (RCT). The main aims were to examine the effects of the SSL-A in reducing internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescents, and to identify the moderating role of gender, age, and school type on the intervention outcome. The RCT involved 112 adolescents aged 11 to 14 years old, randomly allocated to either an SSL intervention group or a waitlist-control group (WLC). Adolescents in the intervention group participated immediately in the SSL-A, whereas adolescents in the WLC group received the intervention after the intervention group completed the 6 months follow-up assessment. Results showed that internalizing and externalizing problems were significantly reduced from pre-test to follo...
Our popular guide on caring for people with severe mental health problems has now entered its fou... more Our popular guide on caring for people with severe mental health problems has now entered its fourth edition. It offers up-to-date information and advice on the role of the primary care staff within mental health care, focusing on the implementation of the new GP contract. This is an invaluable guide to severe mental illness for all those working in primary care.
Medically unexplained symptoms are one of the most commonly encountered symptoms across all healt... more Medically unexplained symptoms are one of the most commonly encountered symptoms across all healthcare settings. They are also responsible for a large proportion of disability in the workforce and decreased quality of life. These patients represent an important clinical phenomenon with considerable direct and indirect economic consequences.This study aims to calculate the economic burden of somatisation among English adults in 2008-2009.Using existing literature, estimates of prevalence, healthcare use and disability were combined in order to calculate the annual cost of healthcare use and productivity loss associated with these patients in excess of non-somatising patients.Based on the results of our analysis, the incremental health care cost incurred by somatising patients is estimated to be £3 billion. This represents approximately 10% of total NHS expenditure on these services for the working-age population in 2008-2009. The cost of sickness absence and decreased quality of life...
Background Although UK general practice is highly computerised and data from it have been widely ... more Background Although UK general practice is highly computerised and data from it have been widely used for quality improvement and research in many diseases areas, most data about the prevalence and quality of management of mental illness come from secondary care-based studies. Many of these studies suggest that people with mental health problems have an excess of cardiovascular and respiratory disease. Objective We carried out this study to determine whether routinely collected general practice data are of sufficient quality to be used for quality improvement, health service planning and research. Setting Twelve computerised general practices in West Surrey with a combined list size of 117 000 patients. Method Audit criteria were developed within a primary care research network. A data set was identified which would enable quality of care to be assessed. MIQUEST (Morbidity Information and Export Syntax -a Department of Healthsponsored data extraction application) was used to extract anonymised data, which was transferred to a relational database and then analysed using a statistical package. The standardised prevalence of cardiovascular and respiratory disease for the population was 1.73%. Respiratory disease was more common in people with severe mental illness (SMI); 22.6% had respiratory illness, compared with 16.4%. Patients with SMI and coronary heart disease (CHD) were much less likely to have their
Behaviour problems are the main reason for referral to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service... more Behaviour problems are the main reason for referral to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Understanding factors contributing to the high prevalence of behaviour problems in adolescents is paramount to inform psychological prevention programmes. Most studies separately examine the frequency/correlates of behaviour problems in either clinical or community settings using different research designs. Due to differences in clinical features of adolescents by setting, comparisons of the frequency and correlates of behaviour problems using the same research design are needed, to develop succesful interventions. This research aims to examine/compare the frequency and correlates of adolescents behaviour problems in community and clinical samples, to adapt a transdiagnostic CBT-based programme to prevent the development of mental health problems. To achieve these aims, five studies were conducted. Study 1 (N=318) compared the prevalence of behaviour problems (BP) among adolescents in community and clinical settings in South West London. Studies 2 to 3 (N=318) examined and compared the association between behaviour problems and a wide range of correlates using questionnaires (Study 2) and quasi-experimental design (Study 3, N=27). Study 4 examined the association between behaviour problems and mental health problems (N=318). Study 5 (N=112) explored the efficacy of a newly adapted transdiagnostic intervention programme. The adolescents were randomly allocated to either an intervention or wait-list control group, with assessments done: pre-post intervention and six-months after the intervention Results showed adolescents in the clinical compared to the community settings had higher levels of behavior problems (Study 1), and callous-unemotional traits, 19.5% encourage me. To all my friends, thank you for all the support along the way, especially through the challenging times. Finally, special thanks to my family who have always been there for me whenever I needed advice or encouragement, they have been both supportive and motivating. My husband Brian; my wonderful dad (John) & my Auntie Sally; my daughters: Eloise; Holly; Emily Jane & Jessica and my sons Terry, Simon, and our angel in heaven our son Rhys. As well as my lovely Brother Paul; Sister in law Julie; my mum Anne and all my many other relatives and friends whom I hope are watching from heaven. Finally, my amazing sister Jacqui; my wonderful friends: Lisa; Katherine; Erica; Sarah; Gina & Tanya (Niece). Thanks, Uncle Bobby, and Neil Thubron for reminding me why I was doing the PhD. I am truly blessed and fortunate and understand that without my newly found religion following the tragic loss of my brother Paul, I would be in a hugely different place now.
The present study examined the benefit of a transdiagnostic prevention program, Super Skills for ... more The present study examined the benefit of a transdiagnostic prevention program, Super Skills for Life (SSL), among adolescents with internalizing and/or externalizing problems in two types of school settings (mainstream school and pupil referral unit) using a randomized waitlist-controlled trial (RCT). The main aims were to examine the effects of the SSL-A in reducing internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescents, and to identify the moderating role of gender, age, and school type on the intervention outcome. The RCT involved 112 adolescents aged 11 to 14 years old, randomly allocated to either an SSL intervention group or a waitlist-control group (WLC). Adolescents in the intervention group participated immediately in the SSL-A, whereas adolescents in the WLC group received the intervention after the intervention group completed the 6 months follow-up assessment. Results showed that internalizing and externalizing problems were significantly reduced from pre-test to follo...
Our popular guide on caring for people with severe mental health problems has now entered its fou... more Our popular guide on caring for people with severe mental health problems has now entered its fourth edition. It offers up-to-date information and advice on the role of the primary care staff within mental health care, focusing on the implementation of the new GP contract. This is an invaluable guide to severe mental illness for all those working in primary care.
Medically unexplained symptoms are one of the most commonly encountered symptoms across all healt... more Medically unexplained symptoms are one of the most commonly encountered symptoms across all healthcare settings. They are also responsible for a large proportion of disability in the workforce and decreased quality of life. These patients represent an important clinical phenomenon with considerable direct and indirect economic consequences.This study aims to calculate the economic burden of somatisation among English adults in 2008-2009.Using existing literature, estimates of prevalence, healthcare use and disability were combined in order to calculate the annual cost of healthcare use and productivity loss associated with these patients in excess of non-somatising patients.Based on the results of our analysis, the incremental health care cost incurred by somatising patients is estimated to be £3 billion. This represents approximately 10% of total NHS expenditure on these services for the working-age population in 2008-2009. The cost of sickness absence and decreased quality of life...
Background Although UK general practice is highly computerised and data from it have been widely ... more Background Although UK general practice is highly computerised and data from it have been widely used for quality improvement and research in many diseases areas, most data about the prevalence and quality of management of mental illness come from secondary care-based studies. Many of these studies suggest that people with mental health problems have an excess of cardiovascular and respiratory disease. Objective We carried out this study to determine whether routinely collected general practice data are of sufficient quality to be used for quality improvement, health service planning and research. Setting Twelve computerised general practices in West Surrey with a combined list size of 117 000 patients. Method Audit criteria were developed within a primary care research network. A data set was identified which would enable quality of care to be assessed. MIQUEST (Morbidity Information and Export Syntax -a Department of Healthsponsored data extraction application) was used to extract anonymised data, which was transferred to a relational database and then analysed using a statistical package. The standardised prevalence of cardiovascular and respiratory disease for the population was 1.73%. Respiratory disease was more common in people with severe mental illness (SMI); 22.6% had respiratory illness, compared with 16.4%. Patients with SMI and coronary heart disease (CHD) were much less likely to have their
Behaviour problems are the main reason for referral to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service... more Behaviour problems are the main reason for referral to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Understanding factors contributing to the high prevalence of behaviour problems in adolescents is paramount to inform psychological prevention programmes. Most studies separately examine the frequency/correlates of behaviour problems in either clinical or community settings using different research designs. Due to differences in clinical features of adolescents by setting, comparisons of the frequency and correlates of behaviour problems using the same research design are needed, to develop succesful interventions. This research aims to examine/compare the frequency and correlates of adolescents behaviour problems in community and clinical samples, to adapt a transdiagnostic CBT-based programme to prevent the development of mental health problems. To achieve these aims, five studies were conducted. Study 1 (N=318) compared the prevalence of behaviour problems (BP) among adolescents in community and clinical settings in South West London. Studies 2 to 3 (N=318) examined and compared the association between behaviour problems and a wide range of correlates using questionnaires (Study 2) and quasi-experimental design (Study 3, N=27). Study 4 examined the association between behaviour problems and mental health problems (N=318). Study 5 (N=112) explored the efficacy of a newly adapted transdiagnostic intervention programme. The adolescents were randomly allocated to either an intervention or wait-list control group, with assessments done: pre-post intervention and six-months after the intervention Results showed adolescents in the clinical compared to the community settings had higher levels of behavior problems (Study 1), and callous-unemotional traits, 19.5% encourage me. To all my friends, thank you for all the support along the way, especially through the challenging times. Finally, special thanks to my family who have always been there for me whenever I needed advice or encouragement, they have been both supportive and motivating. My husband Brian; my wonderful dad (John) & my Auntie Sally; my daughters: Eloise; Holly; Emily Jane & Jessica and my sons Terry, Simon, and our angel in heaven our son Rhys. As well as my lovely Brother Paul; Sister in law Julie; my mum Anne and all my many other relatives and friends whom I hope are watching from heaven. Finally, my amazing sister Jacqui; my wonderful friends: Lisa; Katherine; Erica; Sarah; Gina & Tanya (Niece). Thanks, Uncle Bobby, and Neil Thubron for reminding me why I was doing the PhD. I am truly blessed and fortunate and understand that without my newly found religion following the tragic loss of my brother Paul, I would be in a hugely different place now.
Uploads
Papers by sharon allan