Background and Hypothesis Recent studies show that, despite providing some relief, feedback about being at risk for psychosis often triggers negative emotional reactions. Inspired by Tversky and Kahneman’s (1981) work on the framing effect and medical framings that favors positive framing like “life-threatening” over “high-risk for death,” this study tested the hypothesis that positive reframing of psychosis risk (PR) could alleviate these concerns. To establish the justifiability and feasibility of testing this hypothesis with patients and their families, the study first sought to test whether mental health professionals (MHPs) view positive framing as superior to present state-of-the-art approaches. Study Design The study used an experimental design utilizing a simulated feedback session, recorded with professional actors, featuring a clinician, an adolescent, and his mother. One hundred forty-eight MHPs were randomly assigned to view either negatively or positively framed feedback and were asked about its induced impact on the adolescent and mother. Study Results The study results supported our main hypothesis, indicating significant benefits of positive framing over negative in areas like empathy, stress reduction, stigma, help-seeking, and hope. Contrary to our second hypothesis, familiarity with PR did not affect these results. Conclusions These findings suggest that MHPs view positive reframing of PR as more beneficial and less harmful than present negative framing approaches. This sets the stage for subsequent phases that will assess the perceptions and preferences of individuals at risk and their families. The discussion highlights possible misconceptions of positive framing, such as labeling, positive psychology, and de-medicalization.

中文翻译：

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临床医生认为对精神病风险的积极重构比消极框架更有益且危害更小：一项实验录像模拟反馈研究


背景和假设 最近的研究表明，尽管提供了一些缓解，但关于有精神病风险的反馈通常会引发负面的情绪反应。受 Tversky 和 Kahneman （1981） 关于框架效应和医学框架的工作的启发，该框架更倾向于“危及生命”而不是“死亡高风险”等积极框架，本研究检验了精神病风险 （PR） 的积极重构可以缓解这些担忧的假设。为了确定与患者及其家人一起检验这一假设的合理性和可行性，该研究首先试图测试心理健康专业人员 （MHP） 是否认为积极的框架优于目前最先进的方法。研究设计 该研究采用了一种实验设计，利用模拟反馈会话，由专业演员录制，其中包括一名临床医生、一名青少年和他的母亲。148 个 MHP 被随机分配查看负面或正面框架的反馈，并被询问其对青少年和母亲的诱导影响。研究结果研究结果支持我们的主要假设，表明积极框架在同理心、减轻压力、耻辱感、寻求帮助和希望等领域比消极框架有显着的好处。与我们的第二个假设相反，对 PR 的熟悉程度不会影响这些结果。结论 这些发现表明，MHP 认为 PR 的积极重构比目前的消极框架方法更有益且危害更小。这为后续阶段奠定了基础，这些阶段将评估处于风险中的个人及其家人的看法和偏好。该讨论强调了对积极框架的可能误解，例如标签、积极心理学和去医疗化。