A Comparison of Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) Versus Present Centered Therapy (PCT) for Veterans

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: PTSD

Interventions: Behavioral: Present Centered Therapy
Behavioral: Cognitive Processing Therapy

Registration Number: NCT00607815

Lead Sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development

Brief Summary: The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) versus Present Centered Therapy (PCT) for male OEF/OIF Veterans with combat related PTSD.

Detailed Description: The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) versus Present Centered Therapy (PCT) for male OEF/OIF Veterans with combat related PTSD.

CPT has been shown to be effective in treating trauma survivors in several treatment outcome studies, but utility with Veterans has only been examined with male Veterans in one small pilot study. In addition CPT has never been compared to a treatment as usual or supportive psychotherapy condition to control for the specific and nonspecific elements of treatment. Although Cognitive Processing Therapy is one of the main treatment modalities at several VA's, including Cincinnati, it has never been compared to PCT, nor has it been used in a large, randomized study of male OEF/OIF Veterans. It is hypothesized that individual receiving CPT will show a larger reduction in posttraumatic stress disorder and related symptoms than those individuals receiving PCT.

All male OEF/OIF Veterans will be screened for their appropriateness for the study by phone screen and then by an assessment technician. The Veteran will be assessed at pre, post, 3-month, and 1-year follow-up. The assessment technicians will be blind to the participant's condition. CPT is a 12 week long individual psychotherapy treatment shown to be effective at reducing PTSD and related symptoms for survivors of various types of traumas, including combat. PCT is a supportive counseling treatment that has been utilized as an alternative to waitlist control in VA cooperative studies of PTSD.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: Male

Target Recruitment: 79

Inclusion Criteria

PTSD;
memory of the trauma;
able to read/write;
must be stable on medication for 3 months

Exclusion Criteria

Psychosis;
suicidal/homicidal intent;
alcohol/substance dependence;
no memory of the trauma

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Present Centered Therapy	Present Centered Therapy	Present Centered Therapy
Cognitive Processing Therapy	Cognitive Processing Therapy	Cognitive Processing Therapy

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Clinician Administered PTSD Scale	Post-treatment, at 3 months and 1 year	Clinician-rated PTSD symptom severity; higher is worse; range at post-treatment is 0 to 80; scale scores are summed.
PTSD Checklist (PCL)	post-treatment, at 3 months and 1 year	17-item patient self-reported PTSD severity; higher is worse; range at post-treatment is 17-73; scale scores are summed

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Beck Depression Inventory - II (BDI-II)	post-treatment, at 3 months and 1 year	Gold-standard, self-reported depression severity measure; higher is worse; post-treatment range is 2-45. scale scores are summed.
State-Trait Anger Scale (STAXI)	post-treatment, at 3 months and 1 year	Self-reported trait anger; subscale score is summed; higher is worse; range at post-treatment is 10-37.
State-Trait Anxiety Scale	post-treatment, at 3 months and 1 year	Self-reported state anxiety; higher is worse; scale score is summed; range at post-treatment is 20-73.