NCT01253044

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for OEF/OIF Veterans

Initial Randomized Controlled Trial of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for Distress and Impairment in OEF/OIF Veterans

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 160 (actual)
• Sponsor: Veterans Medical Research Foundation · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This trial compares two psychotherapies, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Present Centered Therapy (PCT), for veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. We hypothesize that ACT will be more effective than PCT at reducing emotional distress and improving functioning. We further hypothesize that both interventions will be highly acceptable to participants.

Detailed description

The proposed study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as compared to a control psychotherapy, Present Centered Therapy (PCT), for individuals with distress and impairment who deployed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom and/or Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF). ACT was selected for study because it has a number of advantages for this population. It is not tied to any particular symptom constellation, so it can be applied to a variety of presenting concerns (Hayes, Luoma, et al., 2006; Öst, 2008, Powers et al., 2009), resulting in reduced training burden for clinicians and less need for applying sequential treatments to address co-morbidities. ACT has good face validity (i.e., "it makes sense") and conveys a compelling message to young Service Members and Veterans. ACT asks individuals to move forward in accordance with one's values regardless of limitations rather than struggling against those limitations. ACT appears to be acceptable to patients (mean attrition of 15.4% in 13 RCTs (Öst, 2008). ACT is being widely disseminated without adequate evidence of its effectiveness for this important population.

Conditions

• Distress
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Postconcussive Symptoms

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Acceptance and Commitment Therapy	Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, delivered twelve 60-minute one-on-one treatment sessions over 6-10 weeks (additional weeks are permissible if needed).
BEHAVIORAL	Present Centered Therapy	Present Centered Therapy, delivered twelve 60-minute one-on-one treatment sessions over 6-10 weeks (additional weeks are permissible if needed).

Timeline

• Start date: 2010-11-01
• Primary completion: 2013-08-01
• Completion: 2013-08-01
• First posted: 2010-12-03
• Last updated: 2015-10-19
• Results posted: 2015-10-19

Locations

6 sites across 1 country: United States