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

The investigators are testing novel treatments for combat PTSD: bright light exposure and negation ion exposure.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, concerns of the risk of infection may lead to fear, anxiety or psychological disorders that may become generalised and long-lasting, corresponding to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD generally occurs in circumstances such as terrorist attacks, hostage-taking, bombings, aggression, accidents... The current health crisis also represents an increased risk of PTSD. After the first moments of stress, the illness becomes more diffuse: personality change (introverted/extraverted), sleep disorders, heart problems, hypervigilance reaction, agoraphobia, symptoms of reminiscence, irritability, decreased concentration, memory loss... In some people, PTSD can lead to more disabling problems such as (crowd) avoidance. In order to help patients with PTSD, clinical psychology offers therapeutic approaches which, starting from a debriefing with the patient, provide supportive therapy which (i) reassures by providing information on the symptomatology, in order to play down the present state of mind, (ii) allows for the expression of what was experienced during the event, (iii) initiates a process of elaboration of the trauma through transference. A study initiated at the François Baclesse Centre during the first confinement, which included 735 patients from April to June 2020, made it possible to assess the impact of the pandemic linked to COVID-19 on the care of cancer patients treated in day hospitals, but also to evaluate the PTSD experienced by patients, sleep difficulties, quality of life, cognitive complaints and confinement conditions using validated questionnaires. This study showed that 21% of patients had proven PTSD and 23% had insomnia problem. This study proposes to evaluate the value of adapted psychological care for patients with PTSD in relation to the pandemic on the improvement of PTSD, as well as on resilience, quality of life and sleep.

Children living in poverty often are at risk to leave their family to work at the landfill. The main reasons for this are torn family systems, family violence, exclusion, poverty and a lack of intra-familial communication. Children in the district of Buterere who spend their days on the streets or on the landfills of Bujumbura, Burundi to earn a living are particularly vulnerable. The project aims to create a safe environment for these young people and to strengthen their family structures in the long term. For this purpose, we plan to treat traumatized parents psychotherapeutically and to improve their parenting skills within the families in group and family sessions. The financial situation is to be improved in the medium term through agricultural group projects. In addition, participating children and youths will be granted access to school and education, and participate in a skill training group to improve social competencies. In the long term, parents are to set up savings and micro credit groups in order to ensure the education of the children. The project involves 40 families, which are particularly affected by poverty and traumatic experiences. The project is based on scientific findings of the implementing organizations, which carried out similar projects in Burundi in the last years.

The open-label clinical study explores potential modifiable predictors of treatment outcomes in a sample of 55 military service members and veterans with clinically significant PTSD symptoms who receive Intensive Outpatient Prolonged Exposure (IOP-PE).

The investigators proposed to compare a modified Prolonged Exposure intervention to treatment as usual within a hospitalized injured trauma survivor sample, to determine with this intervention could prevent the development of PTSD.

This study is designed to examine the feasibility of a 12-week yoga program on physiological and psychological health and its neurobiological mechanisms in N=15 veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The investigators will be examining specific parameters of health and mechanisms before and after the yoga program.

This project will use a longitudinal design with assessments at baseline (T1), post-treatment (T2), 3 month post-partum (T3), 1 year postpartum (T4) and 3.5-5 years postpartum to examine whether the PMEP improves participants': a) mental health (depression, PTSD) and resilience, b) parenting skills, c) birth, infant, and toddler developmental outcomes, and d) lowers re-victimization rates. We hypothesize significantly improved outcomes in the intervention group compared to the control group at post-treatment and at all follow-ups. The pilot will use a quasi-randomized design, with participants assigned to alternating treatment and control blocks. Analyses will be conducted using intent to treat and per protocol methods. Following group assignment, all women will be scheduled for a baseline interview at a time convenient for the participant. Participant interviews will take approximately 1.5 hours. Mothers will be compensated with a gift card in the amount of 40 USD for each interview. In addition to the core evaluation metrics, mothers' demographic information will be obtained (age, relationship status, employment, education, number of children, income). Following the baseline interview, the PMEP will be provided to the treatment group; participants will receive 2-hours of contact time per week for 5 weeks (2-hour sessions, held once weekly). Women will receive reminder calls the day of each session to identify and resolve any barriers to attendance (e.g., transportation). Taxi fare will be supported for women who are unable to obtain transportation if the bus is not feasible. Following the completion of the PMEP groups or - for the control group - after 5-6 weeks has passed, all participants will complete a second interview. This interview will include all of the core measures of hypothesized treatment change, thereby permitting a comparison between women in the treatment and control groups over time. All women will be invited in a third time when their infant is 3 months old and again when their infant is 1 year of age to evaluate parenting and infant outcomes. Women will participate in a brief phone assessment when their children are between 3.5 and 5 years of age that includes all primary study outcomes.

Children living at the landfills of Bujumbura are often exposed to maltreatment, including emotional neglect and physical abuse, and traumatic experiences. Furthermore, they grow up in severe poverty. Addressing trauma-related mental health issues and aggressive behaviour by Narrative Exposure Therapy (FORNET), familial communication by family visits, interaction difficulties of children by a group intervention, poverty by financial support and economic training for mothers, medical problems by medical assistance, legal conflicts by legal advice, and providing access to school, we aimed at reintegrating those children within the Burundian school system and improving familial relationships. The investigators want to provide evidence, that mental health interventions are an integral part of assisting children and families affected by poverty and violence.

This randomized controlled trial will assess whether a novel complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) intervention, Loving-kindness Meditation (LKM), is not meaningfully inferior to another group-based PTSD treatment , Cognitive Processing Therapy (Cognitive Only version; CPT-C) for reductions in PTSD and depressive symptoms. 170 male and female Veterans with current PTSD will be randomized to LKM or CPT-C. The investigators hypothesize that Veterans randomized to LKM will report mean reductions in PTSD and depressive symptom severity that are not meaningfully worse than CPT-C. The investigators further hypothesize that reductions in posttraumatic maladaptive beliefs will more strongly mediate PTSD and depressive symptom improvement for those assigned to CPT-C than those assigned to LKM.

The purpose of this study is to provide preliminary data on the feasibility and impact of adopting a dog from an animal shelter as a supplement to usual care in Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) who desire to get such a pet.