nderstanding and managing Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in a South Auckland prison - trialling a psychological intervention for male sentenced prisoners with a history of TBI.

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: depression; anxiety; cognitive dysfunction; executive dysfunction; traumatic brain injury (TBI); Neurological - Other neurological disorders; Mental Health - Anxiety

• Registration Number: ACTRN12617000757314
• Lead Sponsor: Auckland University of Technology (AUT)

Brief Summary

A single centre Randomised Control Trial (RCT) pilot study was undertaken with 55 consenting prisoners utilising a manualised, combined, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)/Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) intervention to facilitate coping for participants. Measures of post-concussion symptoms, negative affect repair and in-prison infractions were assessed at baseline, following the intervention and after twelve weeks. A thematic analysis was also conducted to understand the participants’ experience of TBI and the intervention/study process. The study found no statistical differences in the demographics between the intervention and wait list controls across the three time periods. There was reduction in the post-concussion symptoms, but no statistical differences between the groups were found across the three time periods. There were improvements in negative affect repair strategies for both groups, which were statistically significant for the intervention group following completion of the intervention, but this was not sustained at the twelve-week follow-up. Through the process of this thematic analysis, three main themes arose, namely: the journey into jail, the intervention and new understandings.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Results First Posted: 1900-01-01
• Study Start: 2017-05-23
• Study Completion: 2018-06-30
• Last Update Posted: 15 July 2019

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Sex: Male
• Target Recruitment: 50

Inclusion Criteria

Any man who has reported at least one TBI in their lifetime (based on the screening offered to all prisoners on arrival to the prison) who has been imprisoned for a violent, burglary or sexual offence (groups found to experience particularly high rates of TBI in screening data) will be included.

Exclusion Criteria

Men who are unable to speak English and those with active psychosis are excluded as these would both prevent engagement in the intervention and completion of the pre and post intervention measures.
Men who following assessment from a psychologist have barriers to participating in a group format or non-associations with other group members will also be excluded.

Study & Design

• Study Type: Interventional
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Scores on negative affect repair questionnaire.[The negative affect repair questionnaire will be administered at the commencement of the intervention, at completion of the 5 weeks of the intervention and again 12 post-completion of the intervention.];TBI symptoms assessed using the Rivermead post concussion screen.[The Rivermead post concussion screen will be administered at the commencement of the intervention, at completion of the intervention and then 12 weeks after the intervention has been completed.]

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
umber of violent episodes assessed by review of offender file notes and prison misconducts.[The file notes will be measured at the commencement of the intervention, immediately following completion of the intervention and 12 weeks after the intervention has been completed.]