Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT04792775

PTSD Treatment and Emotion Regulation Skills Training for Veterans With Military Sexual Trauma (PE+ER)

Prior research has found that Veterans with military sexual trauma (MST) who have more difficulties with emotion regulation were more likely to drop out of PTSD treatment prematurely. The purpose of this pilot study is to determine whether integrating evidence-based emotion regulation skills training with a scientifically validated treatment for PTSD called Prolonged Exposure (PE), will enhance PTSD treatment retention and 'dose received' and subsequently improve treatment outcomes for MST-related PTSD and difficulties with emotion regulation. Results from this project that examine the feasibility of integrating these two treatments will provide methodological evidence and justification for a randomized control trial, if warranted.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic Anxiety Disorders Mental Disorder Mental Disorders Stress Disorders, Traumatic Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders Traumatic Stress Disorder

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Ralph H. Johnson VAMC

Charleston, South Carolina, 29401, United States

About this study

The purpose of this study is to learn ways to improve treatments for women with military sexual trauma (MST). The researchers want to learn whether combining evidence-based emotion regulation skills training with a trauma-focused therapy improves treatment outcomes. An evidence-based trauma treatment known as Prolonged Exposure will be used. Emotion regulation skills will also be included in treatment. Veterans with a positive or sub threshold diagnosis of PTSD who experienced a military sexual trauma (MST) will be included. Participants will complete up to twelve 90 minute sessions of PE with Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Emotion Regulation Skills Training followed by a post-treatment assessment. All aspects of the project including consent, baseline, treatment and follow-up will be completed either in person or via videoconferencing. Fifteen participants will be enrolled.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • MST-related index event
  • Diagnosis of PTSD related to MST assigned on the basis of the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS; Weathers et al., 2013)
  • Difficulties with emotion regulation as identified by the Difficulties with Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz & Roemer, 2004; although there is no clinical cutoff for the DERS, a total score of 99 is indicative of one standard deviation above average difficulties with emotion regulation for women).

Exclusion criteria

  • Having a household member who is already enrolled in the study
  • Active psychosis or dementia at screening
  • Suicidal ideation with clear intent
  • Current moderate to severe Substance Use Disorder
  • Concurrent enrollment in a clinical trial for PTSD or depression.

Treatment and study plan

PE+ER

Behavioral

PE includes the following components: a) psychoeducation about the common reactions to traumatic events and presentation of the treatment rationale b) repeated in vivo exposure to traumatic stimuli, c) repeated, prolonged, imaginal exposure to traumatic memories, and d) relapse prevention strategies and further treatment planning (session 12). DBT Emotion Regulation Skills is integrated as part of this intervention. DBT training provides skills to understand, name, experience and tolerate emotions, as well as skills to change negative emotional responses and to reduce vulnerability to emotion dysregulation (Linehan et al., 2015). The current project includes an adapted 3- session individual emotion regulation skills training intervention to be implemented concurrently with PE which consists of initial teaching/instruction and brief skills review for the remainder of PE treatment.

Primary outcomes

  1. Clinical Administrated PTSD Scale (CAPS)

    Time frame: 13 weeks

    The Clinician Administered PTSD (Posttraumatic stress disorder) Scale (CAPS) is a 30-item structured interview that corresponds to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Version (DSM-V) criteria for PTSD. The CAPS can be used to make a current (past month) or lifetime diagnosis of PTSD or to assesses symptoms over the past week. CAPS-5 symptom cluster severity scores are calculated by summing the individual item severity scores for symptoms corresponding to a given DSM-5 cluster: Criterion B (items 1-5); Criterion C (items 6-7); Criterion D (items 8-14); and, Criterion E (items 15-20). A symptom cluster score may also be calculated for dissociation by summing items 19 and 20. Scores range from 0 to 80.

Secondary outcomes

  1. PTSD Checklist, 5th Version (PCL-5)

    Time frame: 13 weeks

    The PCL-5 is a 20-item self-report measure that assesses the 20 DSM-5 symptoms of PTSD. The PCL-5 has a variety of purposes, including, monitoring symptom change during and after treatment, screening individuals for PTSD, and making a provisional PTSD diagnosis. Description information provided by the National Center for PTSD.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Medical University of South Carolina

Other

Collaborators

  • Georgia State University

Registry information

Official study title

PTSD Treatment and Emotion Regulation Skills Training for Veterans With Military Sexual Trauma

Acronym: PE+ER

Important dates

Study start
2021
Primary completion
2024
Study completion
2024
First posted
Mar 11, 2021
Registry last updated
Feb 13, 2024

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.