NCT01022203

Comparison of Couple-Based PTSD Treatment and Couple-Based PTSD Education

Couples Treatment of PTSD in OEF/OIF Veterans

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 138 (actual)
• Sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development · Federal
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 70 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The study is designed to evaluate the efficacy of a novel couple-based treatment for PTSD, called Structured Approach Therapy, to decrease PTSD and improve the marital and social functioning of Iraqi war Veterans and their partners. The effectiveness of couples therapy will be compared with the effectiveness of a couple-based educational intervention.

Detailed description

The goal of the proposed study is to test the efficacy of a novel couple-based PTSD treatment, called Structured Approach Therapy, by randomly assigning 57 Iraqi war Veterans and their partners to either a 12-15 session Structured Approach Therapy program, or to a 12-15 session PTSD Family Education comparison condition. The efficacy of the two experimental conditions will be ascertained by obtaining measures of PTSD severity from Veterans and measures of relationship functioning and emotion regulation from Veterans and their partners prior to treatment, immediately after treatment, and three months after the last treatment session. The investigators will test the hypothesis that couples participating in Structured Approach Therapy will show significantly greater improvements on all three clinical outcome measures than couples participating in PTSD Family Education. These hypotheses will be tested with an intent-to-treat analysis using general linear mixed models with main effects of treatment, time (baseline, end of treatment, and 12 week follow-up), and treatment by time interactions to model the longitudinal trajectories of the outcome, separately for the Veterans and their partners. The objectives of the Structured Approach Therapy intervention are to decrease PTSD severity, improve relationship and family functioning, and decrease problems in emotion regulation in a group of young Veterans at risk for developing chronic PTSD, and to reduce emotional distress and relationship and family problems in their partners.

Conditions

• Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Structured Approach Therapy	The Structured Approach Therapy intervention includes education about the impact of PTSD on relationships; skills training to teach couples recognize and stop avoidance behavior; behavior activation training; emotion regulation training; and a couple-based intervention to teach Veterans with PTSD to identify and disclose trauma memories and related emotions to their partners. The couple is then trained to support disclosure while practicing empathic communication.
OTHER	PTSD Family Education	The PTSD Family Education intervention provides education for Veterans with PTSD and their partners explaining the signs and symptoms of PTSD; psychological problems that are comorbid with PTSD; and treatments for PTSD. Skills training and psychotherapy are not included.

Timeline

• Start date: 2010-08-01
• Primary completion: 2013-12-01
• Completion: 2016-10-01
• First posted: 2009-12-01
• Last updated: 2016-11-16
• Results posted: 2015-03-09

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States