The Trauma PORTAL Project: a Virtual Asynchronous Treatment for Interpersonal Trauma

The PCL-5 is a 20-item self-report measure that assesses the 20 DSM-5 symptoms of PTSD. The self-report rating scale is 0-4 for each symptom. The min and max values are 0 and 80, with higher scores indicating worse outcome.

The CAPS-5 - Past Month score is a 30-item structured interview that can be used to make a current (past month) or lifetime diagnosis of PTSD and assess PTSD symptoms over the past week. The min and max values are 0 to 80, with higher scores indicating worse outcome.

The DERS-18 is a multi-dimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation. It consists of a self-reported 18-item questionnaire that assesses 6 subscales: lack of awareness of one's emotions, lack of clarity about the nature of one's emotions, lack of acceptance of one's emotions, lack of access to effective emotion regulation strategies, lack of ability to engage in goal-directed activities during negative emotions, and lack of ability to manage one's impulses during negative emotions. Each subscale consists of 3 items, which are rated on a scale of 1 (almost never) to 5 (almost always). The min and max values are 18 and 90, with higher scores indicating worse outcome.

The Short SCS is a 12-item survey assessing 6 subscales: self-judgement, self-kindness, common humanity, isolation, mindfulness, and overidentification. Questions are rated on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (almost never) to 5 (almost always) with subscale scores computed by calculating the mean of subscale item responses. The min and max values are 12 and 60, with higher scores indicating greater self-compassion.

The Health Service Utilization Questionnaire will ask for Information on participant mental health service use to to capture any changes that could affect outcomes over the course of the Trauma PORTAL intervention. Increased health service utilization may indicate a worse outcome.

The General Internet Attitude Scale is a validated baseline questionnaire measuring the participants beliefs and attitudes about using the Internet. The 21 items assess four subscales: Social benefit, Negative affect, Exhilaration, and Detriment. Questions are rated on a 5-point scale (strongly disagree, slightly disagree, no opinion, slightly agree, agree). Higher scores indicate more positive attitudes toward the internet. This scale will provide valuable information regarding study participants' levels of comfort with the Internet, which will likely affect acceptance of an eHealth intervention such as the Trauma Portal intervention by participants.

The research team will collect recruitment numbers and rate, and reasons for ineligibility and non-consent; and the number of days required to fill each "participant group" (i.e. up to 25 participants)

Adherence data will be collected looking at rates of weekly login and module completion, as well as overall Trauma PORTAL completion, Number of weekly live synchronous groups attended, Length of time spent on weekly modules, Reasons for non-use or discontinuation of the intervention, and completion of baseline and post-intervention measures

Safety data will be collected including the number of safety concerns, the need for trial psychiatrist to assess and/or assume care of the participant, and adverse events (i.e. participants meeting stopping criteria)

Health system implications will be evaluated by conducting a clinical chart review to identify the number of weekly online group sessions attended, if any additional contacts were required throughout the course of the intervention, and results of the assessment for next steps.

After completion of the Trauma PORTAL intervention, treatment group participants will be asked to complete an Intervention Acceptability Questionnaire comprised of open and closed ended questions. Closed ended questions will elicit feedback on (1) usability of the Trauma PORTAL; (2) benefits of the Trauma PORTAL intervention including usefulness and increased accessibility of healthcare; (3) perceived security of personal health information; (4) concerns regarding continuity of care; and (5) overall user satisfaction.

Every week a short but optional Iterative Feedback Form (IFF) will be sent to the treatment group participants. These forms will be reviewed by the research team on a weekly basis. There will be questions for participants to let us know how long they spent on each module, and reasons for not completing it (if applicable).