Telephone Support During Overseas Deployment for Military Spouses

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Deployment impacts both service member and family, and the cost can be high. Spouses' reactions to deployment may include emotional distress, loneliness, anticipatory fear or grief, somatic complaints, and depression. The goal is to help spouses learn ways to manage stress and solve problems related to deployment and reintegration, communication, managing long distance relationships, and other common problems. The study will compare telephone support groups to online education sessions. The study will enroll 160 spouses. In the Telephone Support groups, a group leader and participants will meet 12 times over six months to focus on education, skills building and support. Education Only online sessions will provide the same education content, without skills building or support. Content includes strategies to reduce or eliminate communication difficulties during deployment, how to find help; practical concerns during deployment; fostering resilience and decreasing stress; fostering relationships while apart, negotiating roles and relationships; changes during deployment; strategies to support the spouse and the service member; and cues to alert spouses when to seek mental health services for the family or themselves. Outcomes will include resilience, depression, anxiety and coping behaviors. Telephone data collection will be conducted at baseline, six and twelve months.

Official Title
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Telephone Support During Overseas Deployment for Military Spouses

Conditions
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Military Personnel, Family Members, Resilience, Psychological, Deployment

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Telephone support groups
* Other: Education webinars


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: spouse or significant other (living as married for at least one year before deployment) of an overseas deployed military service member deployed at least six months Exclusion Criteria: living as married for at least one year before deployment

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Telephone support groups<br>Telephone support groups, each with participants and a trained group leader. Each hour-long telephone group will meet bi-monthly for six months for a total of 12 meetings. Groups are structured with education, skills building, and support. Participants will receive and use a Spouse Workbook with information and activities. | Behavioral: Telephone support groups<br> <br> |
| Active Comparator: Education webinars<br>Education Webinar session topics are the same that are covered in the intervention arm without telephone interaction/support and skills building components. Each session is 30-minutes. Each participant receives a Spouse Workbook with information and activities. | Other: Education webinars<br> <br> |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Spouse Self-report of Resilience | Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) measured at baseline, 6 and 12 months. Scores range from 0-100. Higher scores equal greater resilience. | Baseline, 6 months | 
| Spouse Self Report of Anxiety | Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) measured at baseline, 6 and 12 months. Scores range from 0 to 21; higher scores equal more anxiety. | baseline, and 6 months | 
| Spouse Self Report of Depression | Patient Health Questionnaire - Depression (PHQ)-9 measured at baseline, 6 and 12 months. Scores range from 0-27 with higher scores indicating more depressive symptoms. | Baseline, 6 months | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Telephone, Support groups, Social support, Depression