Clinical trial NCT01564667: Attention Bias Modification Treatment for Warzone-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Official title: Attention Bias Modification Treatment for Warzone-Related PTSD: A Randomized Clinical Trial Magnetoencephalography Study
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Keywords: PTSD
Posttraumatic Stress
Post Traumatic Stress
Attention Bias
Threat Bias
Combat
Warzone
Lead sponsor: Creighton University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: At Ease USA
First posted: 2012-03-28
Enrollment: 51
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 19
Maximum age (years): 65
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) will be randomly assigned to either Attention Bias Modification Treatment (ABMT) designed to reduce bias toward threat or a placebo control condition not designed to change attention patterns. Outcome measures will be PTSD, anxiety, depression, and alexithymia symptoms as measured by standard psychological interviews and questionnaires. Participants will also be invited to participate in physiological testing before and after receiving AMBT or placebo to serve as additional outcome measures and assess brain functioning, heart rate, and muscle tension.

The investigators expect to see significant PTSD symptom reduction in the Attention Bias Modification Treatment (ABMT) group relative to the placebo control group in which no symptomatic relief is expected. At the end of the study, if ABMT is shown to be effective, we will offer active ABMT to those participants randomly assigned to the placebo arm if they would like to receive the treatment.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) serving in United States Military after March 20, 2003.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Schizophrenia
* Bipolar Disorder
* Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
* Head Injury with Loss of Consciousness for more than 30 minutes
* Active Alcohol/Substance Dependence in past 6 months

Primary outcomes:
measure: Will Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Symptom decrease with intervention
timeFrame: 8 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Other psychiatics symptoms (ie Depression, Anger, Anxiety)
timeFrame: 8 weeks
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Omaha
country: United States
facility: Creighton University
state: Nebraska
Study officials:
affiliation: Creighton University
name: Amy S Badura Brack, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Hakamata Y, Lissek S, Bar-Haim Y, Britton JC, Fox NA, Leibenluft E, Ernst M, Pine DS. Attention bias modification treatment: a meta-analysis toward the establishment of novel treatment for anxiety. Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Dec 1;68(11):982-90. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.07.021.
citation: Badura-Brack AS, Naim R, Ryan TJ, Levy O, Abend R, Khanna MM, McDermott TJ, Pine DS, Bar-Haim Y. Effect of Attention Training on Attention Bias Variability and PTSD Symptoms: Randomized Controlled Trials in Israeli and U.S. Combat Veterans. Am J Psychiatry. 2015 Dec;172(12):1233-41. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2015.14121578. Epub 2015 Jul 24.