Five Session Unified Protocol for Older Adults With Emotional Distress and Reduced Mobility

The PSFS is a measure that can be used to quantify activity limitation and adapted to particular individuals and their functional status. Participants can include up to five activities, of which they rate their limitations on a 0-10 scale, where 0 corresponds to unable to perform and 10 corresponds to able to perform at the activity as well as usual. This scale is not specifically designed for between-subjects comparisons of specific activities, but has been validated and shown to be sensitive to changes in musculoskeletal conditions within subjects. The scores represent changes from baseline at the reported follow-up periods

Time frame: 1 week (post treatment), 1 month (post treatment)

The CSQ is measured on a scale of 8-32, with higher scores indicating higher levels of treatment satisfaction

Time frame: 1 week (post treatment), 1 month (post treatment)

Retention of participants through completion of the study

Time frame: 1 Month Post Treatment

The Brief Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire (BEAQ) is a 15-item self-report measure that assesses an individual's tendency to avoid or escape from unwanted internal experiences, such as uncomfortable emotions, thoughts, memories, or sensations. Higher scores represent more avoidance (range 15- 90). The scores reported here represent changes from baseline at the reported follow up periods.

Time frame: 1 week (post treatment), 1 month (post treatment)

The PROMIS-anxiety is measured on a scale of 7-35, with higher scores indicating higher levels of anxiety. The scores represent changes from baseline at the reported follow up periods.

Time frame: 1 week (post treatment), 1 month (post treatment)

The PROMIS-depression is measured on a scale of 8-40, with higher scores indicating higher levels of depression. The scores represent changes from baseline at the reported follow up periods.

Time frame: 1 week (post treatment), 1 month (post treatment)

The Cognitive Flexibility Scale (CFS) measures one's ability to adapt in response to changes in environments and situations, on a range from 1 to 72. Higher scores on the CFS indicate greater cognitive flexibility. The scores represent changes from baseline at the reported follow-up periods. Therefore, a positive score represents an increase in cognitive flexibility from baseline.

Time frame: 1 week (post treatment), 1 month (post treatment)

The CEQ (Devilly & Borkovec, 2000) is a six-item scale intended to measure patients' perceptions of a treatment's logicality and potential success with good evidence for validity and reliability. At intake, we administered a 6-item adaptation, assessing how logical the UP protocol sounded before being administered and expectations about how effective the treatment would be in reducing distress. We then administered a 5-item adapted version of this questionnaire at one-week and one-month follow-up visits. Participants rated each item on a scale from 1 to 9 (not at all - very). Items included how logical they perceived the treatment to be, how confident they were in successfully using the strategies presented and recommending it to a friend, and how successful they thought the treatment was at improving emotional well-being and activity levels. A summary score is computed by averaging the answers, with higher scores indicating more credibility of the intervention (range 1-9).

Time frame: one week after treatment, one month after treatment

Population: Mean scores

The Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) is a performance-based assessment designed to evaluate lower extremity function in older adults(Guralnik et al., 1994). The SPPB includes three components, but in this study, we utilized only the gait speed subtest. Performance was measured by a study team member through a virtual session at some point before the first treatment session and once again at the 1-week follow-up visit. Participants were mailed necessary materials, including measuring tape and black tape, to demarcate a length of three meters. Participants were instructed to walk this distance at their ordinary pace while the time was recorded to calculate their gait speed. Mean gait speed across two trials was calculated at each assessment.

Time frame: Baseline (1 week before treatment), 1 week post treatment

Population: There were two participants for whom data was not collected due to administrative error at 1 week post treatment.

A rater trained by the PI scored 35% of therapist-driven sessions. Each session was rated using yes/no answers for 12 different domains . An overall computed score captured how many domains were coded as yes in the particular session. The session duration needed to be at least 30 minutes for the session to be considered adherent. In addition, each session was rated for adequacy using 5 items that assessed the therapist's level of engagement and ability to manage the session on a 0-5 scale(Poor to Excellent). These items were averaged. We computed a binary yes/no score that captured whether the session adhered to the protocol. To be adherent, a session needed to include at least 10/12 elements and have an average adequacy rating of at least 3/5. Adherence was not measured in the self-help group because the therapist did not deliver any direct intervention in this group. We present the percentage of sessions coded as adherent from a random selection of videotaped sessions.

Time frame: End of the 5 week-treatment for all participants, approximately 2 months

The PROMIS Physical Function Scale is an 8-item self-report examining difficulty with engaging in daily activities. Items are rated on a scale of 1-5 (unable to do -- can do without any difficulty), with lower scores representing more impairment in functioning. The scale ranges from 8 to 40. Here we present changes from baseline.

Time frame: 1 week (post treatment), 1 month (post treatment)

The SMQ ranges from 0 to 96, with higher scores indicating more mindfulness. The scores represent changes from baseline at the reported follow-up periods.

Time frame: 1 week (post treatment), 1 month (post treatment)

average for each condition of total weekly steps taken by study participants measured on a pedometer

Time frame: at baseline (i.e., the week before session 1 of treatment), during each of the four remaining therapy weeks (session 1--> session 2; 2--> 3; 3-->4; 4--> 5), the week following treatment, the week following a month after treatment ended.

Population: data missing (not submitted) for 2 participants at the 1 month follow up and 1 participant at the 1 week follow up.