Strength At Home: Veterans' Program (Formerly: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)-Focused Therapy for Anger and Relationship Conflict Among Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) Veterans)
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Completed
- Enrollment
- 135
- Locations
- 2
- Primary Endpoint
- Intimate Partner Aggression as Measured by the Conflict Tactics Scale
Study Overview
Brief Summary
This is a research study funded by the Department of Defense to test a therapeutic intervention for male combat veterans who engage in intimate partner violence (IPV). The investigators hope to decrease the recurrence of relationship aggression and help veterans manage anger. The primary aim of the study is to test the intervention.
Detailed Description
The purpose of this project is to develop, standardize, and test an intervention for combat veterans exposed to trauma who engage in intimate partner aggression (IPA). This intervention, formerly labeled PTSD-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Partner Violence (PFCBT), and currently called the Strength at Home, Veteran's Program, incorporates components of interventions for IPA and trauma and will target mechanisms implicated in the relationship between trauma and IPA. This project addresses a number of the research gaps in this area of research including: (a) the development of a novel treatment approach to improve functioning and well-being of affected individuals; (b) tertiary prevention (of repeated IPA) during re-integration; and (c) examination of the efficacy of a program providing support for the families and caregivers of veterans with combat history.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Treatment
- Masking
- Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 18 Years to 80 Years (Adult, Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- •Any era veteran
- •Over the age of 18
- •In a relationship within a female partner within the last 6 months
- •At least one act of male-to-female physical aggression over the previous 6 months or at least one act of male-to-female severe violence in the past 12 months
- •Male participant must consent for partner contact
Exclusion Criteria
- •Participant evidences severe organicity or active psychosis
- •Reading difficulties prevent valid completion of the assessment instruments
- •Participant expresses prominent suicidal or homicidal ideation
- •Participant meets diagnostic criteria for alcohol and/or drug dependence, if not in early full remission or sustained partial remission
Arms & Interventions
Group
PTSD-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Partner Violence
Intervention: PTSD-Focused CBT for Partner Violence (Behavioral)
Waitlist
Control group - no intervention
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Intimate Partner Aggression as Measured by the Conflict Tactics Scale
Time Frame: Pretreatment (baseline), Posttreatment (12 weeks), 3 month follow up (24 weeks)
Revised Conflict Tactics Scale-2 (CTS2). The CTS2 is the most widely used measure of IPV, with excellent internal consistency reliability, content validity, and construct validity.76,88 Combined partner reports will be used such that scores of partners who report a greater frequency of specific CTS2 behaviors will be used in analyses to reduce the impact of response biases and the underreporting of abuse. The CTS2 will also be given every four weeks during the course of active intervention. Scale response options range from 0 to 7. Higher overall scores mean more conflict.
Secondary Outcomes
- Multidimensional Measure of Emotional Abuse (MMEA)(Pretreatment (baseline), Posttreatment (12 weeks), 3 month follow up (24 weeks))
- Trait Anger as Measured by the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) and Aggression as Measured by the Aggression Questionnaire(6-month follow up (72 weeks))
- Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder as Assessed by the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL)(6 month follow-up (72 weeks))
- Relationship Satisfaction as Measured by the Dyadic Adjustment Scale(6-month follow up (72 weeks))
Investigators
Casey Taft
Principal Investigator
Boston VA Research Institute, Inc.