Tania Lecomte

• Ph.D.
• Professor (Full) at Université de Montréal

Objective Disclosing one’s mental health conditions in the workplace is essential for accessing accommodations, but it can also bring negative consequences. This scoping review aims at collecting positive and negative impacts of disclosing mental health conditions in the workplace, with the hope of better supporting employees and organizations faci...

Background Common mental disorders (CMDs) are highly prevalent in workplace settings, and have become a significant public health challenge. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of PRATICAdr, a web application facilitated by a Return-to-Work Coordinator (RTW-C), with a focus on reducing sick leave duration and preventing relapse in individua...

Cognitive biases have been studied in relation to schizophrenia and psychosis for over 50 years. Yet, the quality of the evidence linking cognitive biases and psychosis is not entirely clear. This umbrella-review examines the quality of the evidence and summarizes the effect sizes of the reasoning and interpretation cognitive biases studied in rela...

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a frequent comorbidity in first-episode psychosis (FEP) and may increase cognitive impairments. Cognitive remediation (CR) is an effective treatment for cognition, particularly in a group format. This study aims to assess the efficacy, acceptability and engagement of group CR on cognitive outcomes in FEP+SAD compare...

Faciliter la transition militaire-civile chez les anciens combattants aux prises avec un trouble mental par l’identification des obstacles et des ressources liées au sentiment d’efficacité personnelle

Background Schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders (SSPD) are among the most debilitating of all mental disorders. While the evidence for psychosocial interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy and peer support has significantly improved, access to these services remains limited. This paper describes a protocol for a pragmatic...

Aim This study aims to determine the effect of physical activity on cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating and emotional eating in individuals with a psychotic disorder. Methods Twenty‐seven participants with a psychotic disorder (55% male; mean age: 30 ± 7.5 years; Caucasian: 66.7%; schizophrenia spectrum disorders: 44.4%; bipolar disorder with...

Résumé Objectif Il existe peu d'outils capables de mesurer le rétablissement des individus présentant des troubles mentaux en tenant compte des différentes dimensions du rétablissement. Cependant, le rétablissement englobe plusieurs objectifs au niveau de l'autonomie, des relations interpersonnelles positives, de la santé mentale et physique, de l...

Background Systematically collecting data on clientele databases allows for describing the clientele's needs and addressing various clinical research questions. Conducted in a university psychology clinic, this initiative seeks to improve the overall quality of care provided by integrating evidence‐based practices. This study works to bridge the ga...

Aim To evaluate whether internalized stigma predicts social anxiety, functioning, and subjective recovery in first episode psychosis differently between group cognitive-behavioral therapy that addressed internalized stigma and cognitive remediation. Methods Data was derived from a randomized controlled trial comparing group cognitive-behavioral the...

Introduction: Psychotic disorders are associated with academic difficulties. Supported Employment Program (SEP) guidelines have become the gold standard to improve occupational functioning in psychotic disorders. More recently, these guidelines have been adapted to education. In Canada, several community organizations and hospital programs offer su...

Objectives Cannabis use is common in people with early-phase psychosis (EP) and is associated with worse treatment outcomes. Few targeted interventions for cannabis use behaviour in this population exist, most focusing on abstinence, none focusing on harm reduction. Many people with EP will not seek treatment for their cannabis use with current the...

Background Common mental disorders (CMDs) are highly prevalent in workplace settings, and have become a significant public health challenge. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of PRATICAdr, a web application facilitated by a Return-to-Work Coordinator (RTW-C), with a focus on reducing sick leave duration and preventing relapse in individua...

Breakups are common among emerging adults and are associated with elevated depressive and anxiety symptoms, especially in the presence of attachment insecurities. Previous authors have suggested that inadequate coping strategies might explain this association, yet this has not been examined longitudinally. This study examined the mediating role of...

The Signature Biobank is a longitudinal repository of biospecimen, psychological, sociodemographic, and diagnostic data that was created in 2012. The Signature Consortium represents a group of approximately one hundred Quebec-based transdisciplinary clinicians and research scientists with various expertise in the field of psychiatry. The objective...

Introduction. Psychotic disorders are associated with academic difficulties. Supported Employment Program (SEP) guidelines have become the gold standard to improve occupational functioning in psychotic disorders. More recently, these guidelines have been adapted to education. In Canada, several community organizations and hospital programs offer su...

Background: Cannabis use is highly prevalent in young people with first-episode psychosis (FEP). Most report cannabis use and are often diagnosed with a cannabis use disorder upon admission to specialized services for psychosis. Cannabis use in this population is associated with worse clinical and psychosocial outcomes, rendering it an important cl...

Objective: Different predictors of job tenure for people with a severe mental illness (SMI) have been documented. Conflicting results may be explained by the choice of indicators to measure job tenure. This study aimed to assess the contribution of employment specialist competencies working in supported employment programs, client variables, and wo...

Background Disrupted metacognition is implicated in development and maintenance of negative symptoms, but more fine‐grained analyses would inform precise treatment targeting for individual negative symptoms. Aims This systematic review identifies and examines datasets that test whether specific metacognitive capacities distinctly influence negativ...

Clinical teams working with clients with psychotic disorders have turned to teletherapy to continue offering services to their clients during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, few studies have focused on the challenges of teletherapy by professionals. We conducted a brief online survey with professionals working with clients with a psychotic disorder...

BACKGROUND Cannabis use is highly prevalent in young people with first-episode psychosis (FEP). Most of these individuals report cannabis use and are often diagnosed with a cannabis use disorder upon admission to specialized services for psychosis. Cannabis use in this population is associated with worse clinical and psychosocial outcomes, renderin...

Purpose: Negative symptoms are a persistent, yet under-explored problem in psychosis. Disturbances in metacognition are a potential causal factor in negative symptom development and maintenance. This meta-analysis uses individual participant data (IPD) from existing research to assess the relationship between negative symptoms and metacognition tr...

Previous research has highlighted many of the challenges faced by individuals with psychosis in romantic relationships. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of a novel group intervention for men with first-episode psychosis (FEP) on dating success, romantic and sexual functioning, self-esteem, self-stigma, mentalizing skills, and symptoma...

Aims: Aire ouverte is Quebec’s recently launched integrated youth services model for those aged 12-25. The model provides various health and social services (mental, physical and sexual health, vocational support, etc.). Aire ouverte specifically targets marginalized youth, or those who do not access the traditional care system. Youth are involved...

Innovative technology-based solutions have the potential to improve access to clinically proven interventions for cannabis use disorder (CUD) in individuals with first episode psychosis (FEP). High patient engagement with app-based interventions is critical for achieving optimal outcomes. 104 individuals 18 to 35 years old with FEP and CUD from thr...

Background A growing number of studies highlight the importance of emotion regulation in the treatment and recovery of individuals with psychosis and concomitant disorders such as substance use disorder (SUD), for whom access to integrated dual-disorder treatments is particularly difficult. In this context, dedicated smartphone apps may be useful t...

Aim: Dropping out of psychological interventions is estimated to occur in up to a third of individuals with psychosis. Given the high degree of attrition in this population, identifying predictors of attrition is important to develop strategies to retain individuals in treatment. We observed a particularly high degree of attrition (48%) in a recen...

Many individuals living with severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia, present cognitive deficits and reasoning biases negatively impacting clinical and functional trajectories. Remote cognitive assessment presents many opportunities for advancing research and treatment but has yet to be widely used in psychiatric populations. We conducted a sc...

Background: Cannabis use is most prevalent among adolescents and young adults, and frequent consumption is associated with cannabis use disorder (CUD) and psychosis, with a high prevalence (up to 50%) of CUD in individuals with first-episode psychosis (FEP). Early Intervention Services (EIS) for psychosis include face-to-face psychosocial intervent...

Objective: Despite increasing recognition of the difficulties faced by persons with psychosis with respect to intimacy and sexuality, there is a lack of valid and reliable instruments to measure these areas of functioning in this population. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties (i.e., construct and convergent validity, internal...

"The Accept Voices© is a useful intervention for the management and acceptance of auditory verbal hallucinations in people with schizophrenia. This study aims at determining if the clinical effects remained at six- and 12-month follow-ups. Results show that participants (N=22) maintained a decrease in auditory hallucinations, at the six and 12 mont...

Background Cognitive biases are recognized as important treatment targets for reducing symptoms associated with severe mental disorders. Although cognitive biases have been linked to symptoms in most studies, few studies have looked at such biases transdiagnostically. The Cognitive Bias Questionnaire for psychosis (CBQp) is a self-reported question...

BACKGROUND Cannabis use is most prevalent among adolescents and young adults, and frequent consumption is associated with cannabis use disorder (CUD) and psychosis, with a high prevalence (up to 50%) of CUD in individuals with first episode psychosis (FEP). Early Intervention Services (EIS) for psychosis include face-to-face psychosocial interventi...

Background Cannabis use is the most prevalent among adolescents and young adults; frequent consumption is associated with cannabis use disorder (CUD) and psychosis, with a high prevalence (up to 50%) of CUD in individuals with first-episode psychosis (FEP). Early Intervention Services (EIS) for psychosis include face-to-face psychosocial interventi...

Background: Research supports the possibility that a person's metacognitive ability may influence the impact of positive symptoms. This connection is important because understanding how metacognitive capacity relates to positive symptoms and distress can guide treatment and bolster recovery. Aims: To explore this, we assessed the moderating role...

Deficits in metacognitive capacity are common among people with serious mental illness (SMI), although there is a gap in knowledge regarding how these impairments predict later functioning, especially employment. This study aimed to prospectively examine the relationship between metacognitive capacity and 6-month competitive employment attainment i...

Introduction Over the years, many psychosocial interventions for individual having both a psychotic spectrum disorder and a substance use disorder diagnoses have been developed and studied. However, there is a high dropout rate among this clinical population. Objectives This meta-analysis aims to replicate a previous meta-analysis on the effects o...

Background: A major model in psychiatry that influences service delivery is the recovery model which emphasizes personal goals and overcoming obstacles to meet them. The Client Assessment of Strengths, Interests, and Goals - CASIG (Wallace, Lecomte, Wilde, & Liberman, 2001) is a well-known functional assessment, that was not only presented deficits...

Livre pour soutenir les amis et les proches d'une personne avec un trouble psychique ou mental grave (en français)

As many as 43% of methamphetamine users will have a psychotic episode in their lifetime. Of these, 30% will develop a primary psychotic disorder, such as schizophrenia. The current state of the literature does not currently allow us to determine who will develop a primary psychotic disorder following a methamphetamine-induced psychosis (MIPD). This...

Background Social anxiety (SA), a prevalent comorbid condition in psychotic disorders with a negative impact on functioning, requires adequate intervention relatively early. Using a randomized controlled trial, we tested the efficacy of a group cognitive-behavioral therapy intervention for SA (CBT-SA) that we developed for youth who experienced the...

Purpose Little research has explored the process of disclosure decision-making from antecedents to outcomes. This paper presents a model of decision-making about disclosure of a mental health condition to the immediate supervisor in the workplace shortly after starting a new job. Methods A qualitative descriptive design was employed to explore par...

Introduction Socio-professional reintegration is an objective that is regularly sought-after by people in the early stages of a psychotic disorder. Despite this, employment rates are low for this population and high school dropout rates remind at a high level. Objectives and method This literature synthesis based on recent meta-analyses and studies...

Objective Treatment guidelines for the treatment of psychotic disorders suggest evidence-based interventions. These interventions target several domains such as self-management of clinical symptoms, social, familial and love relationships as well as cognitive functioning. However, these general guidelines do not provide specific evidence for people...

Objectif Proposer quelques repères pour faciliter le processus de création d’applications pour téléphones intelligents (apps) en santé mentale. Méthode Présentation brève de l’intérêt potentiel des apps et proposition argumentée d’étapes clés pour la création des apps. L’article se base sur une revue narrative, un retour d’expérience et des discuss...

Background Depression is one of the major causes for sick leave and loss of productivity at work. Many studies have investigated return to work (RTW) interventions for people with common mental disorders. However, a paucity of studies has targeted depressive symptoms in the workplace, as well as work productivity. Objectives This study presents pre...

Purpose To disentangle the key steps of the return to work (RTW) process and offer clearer recovery-focused and sustainable RTW for people on sick leave due to common mental disorders (CMDs). Methods This participatory research involves two large Canadian organizations. In each organization, we established an advisory committee composed of RTW sta...

Objectives: Patients admitted to psychiatric emergency services (PES) are highly heterogenous. New tools based on a transdiagnosis approach could help attending psychiatrists in their evaluation process and treatment planning. The goals of this study were to: (1) identify profiles of symptoms based on self-reported, dimensional outcomes in psychia...

Social functioning is a central to the treatment of people with psychosis, even more so with the recovery movement promoting an optimal life in one's environment. A good ability to function socially is, among other things, associated with fewer future complications and a better overall quality of life. However, prognostic markers currently in use (...

Introduction Les troubles mentaux courants (TMC) représentent de 30 % à 50 % des absences maladies toutes confondues. Le succès du retour au travail (RAT) n’est pas dû au seul fait de l’individu, mais plutôt au résultat de l’interaction entre les acteurs impliqués dans le processus. De nombreuses applications en santé mentale ont été développées po...

Objective To propose some key steps to facilitate the process of creating mental health smartphone applications (apps). Methods Brief presentation of the potential interest of apps and proposition of key steps for the creation of apps. The paper is based on a narrative review, a testimonial experience and some expert works. Results Apps have ubiqui...

Introduction Common mental disorders (CMDs) account for 30% to 50% of all illness absences. The success of RTW is not only due to the individual but rather to the result of the interaction between the stakeholders involved in the RTW process. Numerous mental health applications have been developed to improve patient management and optimize communic...

People with psychotic disorders are at higher risk of not completing an educational degree and tend to get low-wage jobs. We offered computer coding classes to 14 participants. The training was deemed feasible, acceptable, and appeared to increase their motivation for school or work, not only in computer-related domains.

Many individuals living with severe mental illness present cognitive deficits and reasoning biases negatively impacting clinical and functional trajectories. Within the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians and researchers must adapt traditional in-person assessments for remote delivery, but little guidance is available for this ende...

Aim The COVID‐19 pandemic has introduced many mental health professionals to therapy via videoconferencing. Mostly individual teletherapy has been offered and studied, although group therapy is often offered in clinics. In fact, little is known regarding group therapy's acceptability, feasibility, and potential impact when offered via videoconferen...

Objective Victims of child sexual abuse (CSA) present with a higher risk of psychotic disorders. However, the developmental course of psychosis following CSA, such as the age at onset, remains unknown. This study aimed to determine whether the age at onset of psychotic disorders was influenced by sexual abuse, sex, and confounding factors (substanc...

Background Little is known about the factors associated with psychosis in sexually abused children. Many factors have been associated with both sexual abuse and psychosis, and some mental health disorders have been identified as implied in the relationship between childhood trauma and psychosis. Objectives This study aims to identify factors coocc...

Deficits in social functioning are especially severe amongst schizophrenia individuals with the prevalent comorbidity of social anxiety disorder (SZ&SAD). Yet, the mechanisms underlying the recognition of facial expression of emotions—a hallmark of social cognition—are practically unexplored in SZ&SAD. Here, we aim to reveal the visual representati...

The lack of knowledge regarding the roles and actions of return to work (RTW) stakeholders create confusion and uncertainty about how and when to RTW after experiencing a common mental disorder (CMD). Purpose The purpose of this scoping review is to disentangle the various stakeholders’ role and actions in the RTW process of workers on sick-leave d...

The inability to synthesize information into experience of self and others could be one significant cause of negative symptoms. To explore this possibility, we examined the relationships between baseline metacognition and concurrent and prospective negative symptoms controlling for verbal memory. The participants were 62 adults diagnosed with serio...

Aim of the study The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential impact of a third wave CBT group intervention for the management of auditory hallucinations in patients with schizophrenia. Method : 38 patients with schizophrenia presenting with auditory hallucinations, followed in mental health services, participated in six sessions of a...

Aim To assess the feasibility, acceptability and potential impact of a cognitive behavioural group intervention occurring over 12 sessions and focusing on romantic relationships for single men with early psychosis. Methods Recruitment, drop‐out and participation rates were collected. An A‐B‐A within‐subject design (n = 7), where each participant a...

Background Healthy metacognition involves several capacities, including the ability to integrate information about the self and others in order to formulate ways of coping with social challenges and psychological distress. Multiple studies have demonstrated that reduced general metacognitive capacity is predictive of the development and persistence...

Background Study-level meta-analyses have demonstrated the efficacy of cognitive–behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp). Limitations of conventional meta-analysis may be addressed using individual-participant-data (IPD). We aimed to determine a) whether results from IPD were consistent with study-level meta-analyses and b) whether demographic and...

Individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia are consistently found to have smaller social networks, as well as deficits in metacognition; the results for those with comorbid substance misuse are contradictory. The role of metacognition in the development of social relationships in individuals with early psychosis and comorbid substance misuse is poorl...

For individuals with a psychotic disorder, dating can present several challenges and lead many to be excluded from intimate relationships. These difficulties may stem from a number of factors, including impairments in social and sexual functioning. Although scientific interest in this topic is mounting, the last quantitative review of the literatur...

Résumé Objectifs Cette recherche a pour objectif de valider et d’adapter l’échelle d’acceptation des voix Voices Acceptance and Actions Scale (VAAS) sur un échantillon d’une population francophone (n = 386) composée de patients atteints de schizophrénie et d’entendeur de voix issus de la population générale, et d’explorer le niveau d’acceptation d...

Objectives: Individuals with psychotic symptoms presenting to emergency psychiatry often have comorbid symptoms, such as substance misuse, depression, and anxiety. Many will also have symptoms linked to previous traumatic experiences such as impulsivity, often found in comorbid personality disorders. Although various studies have looked at specific...

Résumé Objectif de l’étude Dans le cadre d’un projet de recherche sur l’efficacité d’une approche groupale pour la gestion des hallucinations acoustico-verbales (HAVs), nous avons mesuré le sentiment d’efficacité des cliniciens pour aider leurs patients à faire face aux phénomènes hallucinatoires, avant et après avoir reçu une formation. Méthode...

UNSTRUCTURED Mental health apps have great potential to help people needing support to cope with distress or specific symptoms. There is in fact an exponential increase of mental health Apps available online, with less than 5% actually being studied. Nonetheless, there is a need to assess the quality of the evidence available and to summarize the r...

Background Mental health apps have great potential to help people needing support to cope with distress or specific symptoms. In fact, there is an exponential increase in the number of mental health apps available on the internet, with less than 5% being actually studied. Objective This study aimed to assess the quality of the available evidence r...

The merging of evidence-based interventions with supported employment programs are being increasingly studied, with encouraging results. The current study is aimed at determining the impact of a brief cognitive behaviour therapy group intervention adapted for supported employment programs (called CBT-SE) on the work outcomes of: obtaining a competi...

Objectives: The Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS) is composed of two subscales, self-reflectiveness and self-certainty, assessing reflectiveness and openness to feedback, and mental flexibility. Delusions have previously been associated with low cognitive insight. The aim of this study was to determine whether changes in BCIS scores predict chan...

Cette étude qualitative s’intéresse aux facteurs pouvant expliquer les difficultés rencontrées par les jeunes hommes (18–35 ans) ayant vécu un premier épisode psychotique à établir et maintenir des relations amoureuses. Douze participants ont pris part à une entrevue semi-structurée d’environ 60 minutes. Quatre thèmes principaux sont ressortis de l...

Background The waiting room in psychiatric services can provide an ideal setting for offering evidence-based psychological interventions that can be delivered through electronic media. Currently, there is no intervention available that have been developed or tested in mental health.AimsThis proof-of-concept study aimed to evaluate a pilot design of...

The stress-vulnerability-protective factors model is often used to explain the etiology and known risk and protective factors of initial psychotic symptoms and symptomatic relapses. Over the past 40 years since its initial conception, the model has evolved and gathered a plethora of evidence of varying quality for its different components. The obje...

Social firms (SFs) are an appealing model for people with a mental health condition who are having difficulties maintaining their employment in a competitive labour market. The goal of this study is to compare the availability of work accommodations in two types of Canadian SFs, by interviewing supervisors working in adapted enterprises and consume...

Over 50% of people diagnosed with a severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, will meet criteria for a substance use disorder in their lifetime. This dual disorder often starts during youth and leads to significant societal costs, including lower employability rates, more hospitalizations, and higher risk of homelessness and...

In a number of countries, unemployment rates for people with psychiatric disabilities are much higher than in the general population. On the one hand, the expenses for mental health reach 3.5% of the total public health and social services budget in Québec. On the other hand, social firms (SFs) receive government subsidies. The objective was to com...

The current study investigated whether childhood maltreatment and social cognition (emotional regulation, mentalization, causal attributions) are associated with romantic breakup adjustment in youth (resilience, psychiatric symptoms, distress); and whether social cognition mediates the relationship between childhood maltreatment and adjustment to r...

The Social Anxiety Questionnaire for Adults (SAQ) is a new social anxiety measure that attracts attention for its empirical development, validation with large samples and in multicultural contexts. The SAQ has shown adequate psychometric properties among clinical and non-clinical samples, from 20 different countries, including Spain, Portugal and m...

Social anxiety is highly prevalent in individuals with schizophrenia, with studies suggesting rates of 30%. This study aimed at determining if social anxiety is linked to specific emotion recognition deficits and to specific social functioning deficits. A total of 47 participants with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and receiving outpatient services a...

Background: Several factors impact work productivity in employees with a psychiatric condition. Objective: In the context of social firms (SFs) the goal of this study is to test a theoretical model to predict work productivity across time, while considering worker and workplace factors. Methods: 222 people with a psychiatric disability employe...