Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders for Women in a Homeless Situation

The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness and feasibility of an adaptation of the Unified Protocol (UP) for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders to women living homeless in Madrid, Spain. To address this goal, both clinical and psychosocial outcomes will be measured. The application of the UP is postulated as an effective tool for improving mental health and well-being of women in a homeless situation, which in turn will enhance their social inclusion process.

The European Strategy for the Homeless People states that homelessness is the most extreme form of poverty and exclusion, which violates human dignity and poses a risk to health and life. Women constitute a particularly vulnerable subgroup among homeless people. Women living homeless show significant deterioration in their psychological welfare and mental health, which, among other aspects, is an obstacle in the access to care resources and inclusion processes. There is a growing interest in the effectiveness and efficiency of intervention techniques to address mental health problems. The high comorbidity between mental health disorders, and especially emotional disorders, has promoted the development and consolidation of a transdiagnostic perspective. This perspective raises the existence of common mechanisms involved in the maintenance of different disorders, so that there would be a preamble to cognitive and/or behavioral processes shared by various psychological disorders. The design of a transdiagnostic treatment strategy allows a more inclusive approach to mental health and facilitates the design of similar treatment programs applicable to a wide range of mental disorders. Therefore, the transdiagnostic treatment could be a feasible and effective alternative to address some of the most common problems in mental health among women in a homeless situation. This approach could be useful to improve a diversity of symptoms in the own context of homeless living women and facilitate a systematic evaluation of its effectiveness. The overall objective of this project is the development of a feasible and effective intervention adapted to the needs of women in a homeless situation and the service resources where they are attended. Moreover, the project aims to compare the group versus individual delivery of the UP among women in a homeless situation. This research is based on the hypothesis that the UP adaptation, both in group and individual delivery, will be effective in reducing anxiety and depression symptoms, decreasing negative affect and increasing psychological well-being, health state, positive affect, social support and quality of life. Strengths but also barriers and difficulties encountered in each format of intervention will be examined. This knowledge will be key to develop specific and adapted materials that enable effective interventions practices in the services resources for homeless people. The UP intervention will consist of 12 weekly sessions lasting an hour and a half, applied in different centers for homeless people in Madrid. There will be several assessment moments: before the intervention, twelve intersession assessments (i.e., one per session), after the intervention, and 3 months, 6 months and 9 months follow-ups. The psychological intervention will be carried out by therapists with a background in psychology. With this research it is expected to achieve results with impact at the technical level (in the design of effective interventions for psychological treatment of women in a homeless situation), on a scientific level (expanding knowledge about the effectiveness of intervention programs for women in social exclusion situations), and, especially, at the social level (affecting the quality of life and the processes of social inclusion of women in a homeless situation).