Clinical trial NCT01435512: Strength At Home: Veterans' Program (PTSD-Focused Therapy for Anger and Relationship Conflict Among OEF/OIF Veterans)
Official title: 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)
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Domestic Violence
Keywords: PTSD
CBT
Intimate Partner Violence
Treatment
Lead sponsor: Boston VA Research Institute, Inc.
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: United States Department of Defense
First posted: 2011-09-16
Enrollment: 135
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 80
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

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.

Eligibility criteria: 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

Primary outcomes:
measure: Intimate Partner Aggression as Measured by the Conflict Tactics Scale
timeFrame: Pretreatment (baseline), Posttreatment (12 weeks), 3 month follow up (24 weeks)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Multidimensional Measure of Emotional Abuse (MMEA)
timeFrame: Pretreatment (baseline), Posttreatment (12 weeks), 3 month follow up (24 weeks)
measure: Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder as Assessed by the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL)
timeFrame: 6 month follow-up (72 weeks)
measure: Relationship Satisfaction as Measured by the Dyadic Adjustment Scale
timeFrame: 6-month follow up (72 weeks)
measure: Trait Anger as Measured by the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) and Aggression as Measured by the Aggression Questionnaire
timeFrame: 6-month follow up (72 weeks)
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Boston
country: United States
facility: National Center for PTSD/VA Boston Healthcare System
state: Massachusetts
city: Providence
country: United States
facility: Providence VA Medical Center
state: Rhode Island
Study officials:
affiliation: VA Boston Healthcare System
name: Casey T. Taft, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: VA VISN 17 Center of Excellence
name: Suzannah Creech, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Taft CT, Macdonald A, Creech SK, Monson CM, Murphy CM. A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial of the Strength at Home Men's Program for Partner Violence in Military Veterans. J Clin Psychiatry. 2016 Sep;77(9):1168-1175. doi: 10.4088/JCP.15m10020.
citation: Creech SK, Macdonald A, Benzer JK, Poole GM, Murphy CM, Taft CT. PTSD symptoms predict outcome in trauma-informed treatment of intimate partner aggression. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2017 Oct;85(10):966-974. doi: 10.1037/ccp0000228. Epub 2017 Jul 20.