Active clinical trials for "Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic"

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a brief, efficient, and effective psychotherapy for individuals with depressive and PTSD. However, CBT is largely underutilized within Veteran Affairs Medical Centers (VAMCs) due to the cost and burden of trainings necessary to deliver the large number of CBT protocols. Transdiagnostic Behavior Therapy (TBT), in contrast, is specifically designed to address numerous distinct disorders within a single protocol. The transdiagnostic approach of TBT has the potential to dramatically improve the accessibility of CBT within VAMCs and therefore improve clinical outcomes of Veterans. The proposed research seeks to evaluate the efficacy of a group version of TBT (G-TBT) by assessing clinical outcomes and quality of life in VAMC patients with major depressive disorder and PTSD throughout the course of treatment and in comparison to two existing group disorder-specific therapies (G-DST), CBT for Depression and Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD.

This study aims to investigate the effects of a single dose of psilocybin, delivered in the contextof pre- and post-dose psychotherapy, on symptoms of depression and burnout suffered by healthcare clinicians as a result of frontline work in the COVID pandemic.

This study investigates the efficacy of a novel neuromodulation treatment, light emitting diodes (LED), on cognition, neuropsychiatric status and quality of life in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

The investigators recently completed an NIMH R34 in which they piloted a patient- and provider-informed tablet-based toolkit designed to facilitate delivery of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) - a treatment that was selected because it addresses a wide range of symptoms using techniques shared by other treatments for emotional and behavioral disorders. The tablet-based toolkit consists of numerous components (e.g., videos, interactive games, drawing applications) that are designed to facilitate provider-patient interactions in a way that enhances children's engagement and supports adherence to the treatment model. The tablet-based toolkit was very well received by children, caregivers, and providers in the pilot evaluation. Moreover, all benchmarks for feasibility were met or exceeded. This study proposes to conduct a hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial to examine the extent to which the tablet intervention may improve fidelity, engagement, and children's mental health outcomes. The investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial with 120 mental health providers and 360 families in partnership with dozens of clinics in the Carolinas and Florida. Providers will be assigned randomly to tablet-facilitated vs. standard TF-CBT. Youth aged 8-16 years with clinically elevated symptoms of PTSD will be recruited. Baseline and 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month post-baseline assessments will be conducted by independent, blind evaluators. Sessions will be videorecorded for observational coding of engagement and fidelity by independent raters blind to study hypotheses. The investigators will also examine costs and conduct semi-structured interviews with families, providers, supervisors, and agency leaders to inform future dissemination and implementation initiatives. Technology-based resources that are scalable, easy to use, and designed for efficient integration into everyday practice may have sustained national impact.

Vocational instability in Veterans with serious mental illness (SMI) is pervasive, costly, and harmful. Over 75% of Veterans with SMI are unemployed, resulting in economic difficulties and trouble meeting basic needs. Overall, among adults with depression, work dysfunction results in a 36 to 51 billion dollar loss annually. Unemployed Veterans with SMI also suffer major health consequences, including a more severe course of illness and poor recovery over time, leading to increased inpatient and emergency service use. The WORKWELL study will synergistically address these deficits in health, recovery, and work functioning by testing the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Work Success (CBTw) intervention. Using a pragmatic design, this project will address work as a major social determinant of health and close the health disparity gap among people with SMI. Further, through promotion of work and healthy thinking, CBTw holds promise to reduce risk of suicide among vulnerable veterans with SMI.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common and disabling condition associated with intimate relationship problems and mental health problems in partners of those with PTSD. Recognizing the need to improve access to evidence-based interventions for those with PTSD and their families, our team has developed an Internet-delivered, self-help intervention to improve PTSD, enhance relationships, and improve partners' mental health: Couple HOPES (Helping Overcome PTSD and Enhance Satisfaction). Couple HOPES presents text and video-based content across seven self-help intervention modules, with modest support from paraprofessional coaches. Although the Couple HOPES platform has been developed, it remains uncertain whether Couple HOPES is feasible, usable, and efficacious in reducing PTSD and enhancing intimate relationship functioning. The proposed project aims to refine and finalize Couple HOPES with couples that include a veteran, service member or first responder with significant PTSD symptoms. This project includes initial testing of the intervention's preliminary efficacy, safety, and feasibility in a series of 10 couples (Phase 1), then in an uncontrolled trial of 20 couples (Phase 2), and then a randomized clinical trial comparing its efficacy to a delayed intervention control condition in 70 couples. Potential benefits of this study include couples learning new skills to reduce PTSD symptoms and enhance relationship functioning, although this is not guaranteed. Risks include participants finding the assessments distressing, or possible worsening of PTSD symptoms or relationship functioning. These risks will be mitigated by continuous monitoring of PTSD symptoms, relationship functioning, and adverse events, and intervention by study staff.

Public safety personnel (PSP) have regular and often intense exposure to potentially traumatic events at work and are at higher risk for developing mental health problems such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Studies have shown up to 4 times higher suicidal ideation, attempt and death among this population compared to the general population. Despite the high rate of mental health problems among PSPs, their willingness to receive mental healthcare support is fairly low, mainly due to the stigma attached to these disorders. Those who are willing to seek help face unique barriers including their irregular shift hours, limiting their access to resources otherwise available to the public. Given these challenges and the critical contribution of PSPs to public safety, developing innovative solutions to address their mental health must be a healthcare priority. This proposal aims to study the efficacy of using an innovative approach in delivering mental health online, to address mental health problems among correctional workers (CW), who are especially prone to mental health problems given the high rate of workplace violence. It is hypothesized that using an online platform to deliver cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), would lower the stigma of receiving care in a secure and confidential environment, easing CW's concerns about stigma from co-workers. The content is delivered through interactive and engaging therapy modules, designed for specific groups of CWs and customized by situational examples to make therapy more relatable. These online modules would provide CWs with 24/7 access to therapy content, solving the irregular work hour problem. The online CBT modules developed in this study would provide high quality and clinically validated resources to address mental health problems of CWs all across Canada. Knowledge acquired through this project could also be beneficial to using iCBT in general for addressing mental health challenges among other PSPs.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) will be a severe problem in Canada in the wake of COVID-19, especially for Military Members, Veterans, First Responders, and Healthcare Workers (MVFH). However, gold standard face-to-face PTSD treatments do not meet current MVFH needs, which requires virtual interventions and minimal healthcare resources. Recognizing the need for a virtual, low-resource PTSD intervention for MVFH with PTSD and their loved ones, the investigators developed Couple HOPES (Helping Overcome PTSD and Enhance Satisfaction). Couple HOPES is a secure, online self-help intervention for those with PTSD and their partners (www.couplehopes.com). However, MVFH are now particularly likely to be exposed to traumas related to COVID-19. It is essential to identify if Couple HOPES is safe and helpful for couples involving MVFH with COVID-19-related PTSD specifically. This project will therefore test the efficacy of Couple HOPES compared to a delayed waitlist control in 70 couples wherein one member is a MVFH with COVID-19-related PTSD. The investigators will examine if Couple HOPES is helpful in improving PTSD symptoms and relationship satisfaction for such couples, and if it is more or less helpful to this end for these couples compared to those with other forms of trauma exposure. 70 couples including a MVFH with COVID-19-related PTSD, will be randomly assigned to receive Couple HOPES or to a waitlist. PTSD symptoms and relationship satisfaction will be measured ~weekly during the intervention and one month after it. Related problems (e.g., depression, anxiety, healthcare use) will be measured before, in the middle of, after, and one month after, the intervention.

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is the signature wound of Veterans returning from the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan (i.e., OIF/OEF/OND), with up to 20 percent experiencing persistent post-concussive symptoms. Among Veterans with mTBI, the majority also experience stress-based psychopathology (e.g., depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and/or generalized anxiety disorder) and chronic pain. To cope with distress, pain, and other difficulties, Veterans often turn to maladaptive avoidant coping strategies which offer short term relief but exacerbate/maintain mental health problems and have detrimental long-term effects on social, occupational, and community reintegration. Unfortunately, Veterans face important barriers to seeking mental health treatment, including stigma and logistical issues. This proposal aims to examine 1) the impact of a Veteran-centered, non-stigmatizing, 1-day "life skills group workshop" on overall distress and reintegration; and 2) the mechanisms by which this treatment might work as well as possible influences on treatment efficacy.

The purpose of this study is to develop and then test an enhanced version of the parent study's collaborative care intervention for co-occurring disorders (CC-COD) to reduce the risk of suicide and overdose among individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) in combination with PTSD/depression. The parent study is CLARO, Collaboration Leading to Addiction Treatment and Recovery from Other Stresses (NCT04559893).