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

The overall goal of this project is improve access to and engagement in quality care for military service personnel and Veterans suffering with posttraumatic stress (PTS). Veterans often present to their primary care providers with symptoms of PTS and related physical problems; however, most primary care providers have not been trained to care for Veterans with PTS or communicate with them in ways that motivate them to engage in care. In this study instigators propose to design, test and prepare to implement a Virtual World PTS and Motivational Interviewing training for primary care providers by taking the following steps: (1) partner with stakeholders to iteratively design the training which takes full advantage of the affordances of Virtual World technology to enhance training interactivity, effectiveness, and durability, (2) perform a randomized control trial to compare the virtual world training with an online training, and (3) summarize the findings and prepare for implementation and dissemination of the new training by soliciting feedback from primary care providers who participated in the training and from original project stakeholders.

The investigators have developed a mobile app called Resolving Psychological Stress (REPS) for people with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The app will administer threat-related attention bias modification to individuals who score high on a PTSD checklist. This study will be administered remotely to individuals in the United States. The aims of the study are to explore feasibility, acceptability and usability of the app in an entirely remote study, as well as to explore the efficacy of the app at reducing attention bias and PTSD symptom severity.

The investigators will test whether intranasal oxytocin (24 IU vs placebo) will induce effects on attention bias and startle comparable to those the investigators have shown to be induced by the presence (vs absence) of a service dog in Veterans diagnosed with PTSD. This possibility is suggested by a 2015 study showing that urinary oxytocin levels are elevated in association with mutual gaze between dogs and their owners.

The purpose of this study is to quantify the therapeutic efficacy and role of trained service dogs on socio-emotional functioning among military veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

This project aims to contextualize delivery of mindfulness training to U.S. Army personnel, evaluate its effectiveness on measures of executive functions and psychological well-being, and determine best practices for its delivery.

The tasks of the project are to map the potency and kinetics of the neurologic, autonomic peripheral, inflammatory, and behavioral responses to vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) vs. sham treatment, at baseline and in response to stressful traumatic scripts related to personal traumatic events, as well as a series of other stressors.

This pilot study evaluates the feasibility of conducting a study to evaluate the impact of nature exposure/hiking in groups on symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder in Veterans. Participants will be randomized to one of two groups: 1) nature hikes and 2) urban hikes.

To examine the clinical efficacy of the anti-glutamatergic medication riluzole in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and its effect on hippocampus biomarkers that our laboratory previously has identified using MRS.

This study wants to demonstrate the effectiveness of combining a positive memory with "recommended" therapy based on EMDR in reducing the disturbance that patients with complex psychotrauma may experience. The positive memory will be called "benevolent memory" (SB) or "less worse memory" (SMP).

Background: The negative health outcomes experienced by Indigenous peoples may be understood as direct consequences of colonization. One of the key consequences of the colonial influence on Canada's Indigenous peoples has been intergenerational trauma (IGT). Indigenous communities in Canada face significant challenges with IGT, which often manifest in substance use disorders (SUD). Indigenous communities have identified SUD as one of their greatest health challenges(Maté 2009), with some Northern Ontario First Nations communities experiencing SUD rates of 70% (Calveson 2010). Most Elders, traditional healers, and Indigenous scholars agree that connecting treatment to culture, land, community, and spiritual practices is a pathway to healing trauma and SUD for Indigenous peoples. Recent work by Dr. Teresa Naseba Marsh has demonstrated that Indigenous Healing and Seeking Safety (IHSS) model for trauma therapy can be effectively combined for the treatment of Indigenous patients with a history of trauma and SUD. Seeking Safety incorporates the inclusion of the mind, body, spirit, and self-awareness during treatment, and the perspective of Seeking Safety is convergent with traditional Indigenous healing methods. Benbowopka Treatment Centre is a residential treatment site operated by Mamaweswen, located in the North Shore Tribal Council in Blind River, Ontario. Benbowopka's mandate is to provide treatment for Indigenous clients with trauma and SUD. They are also implementing a culturally sensitive program grounded in IHSS methodology for the treatment of Indigenous patients' trauma and SUD. Through our current collaboration with Benbowopka and Mamaweswen the applicants have collected baseline data from client files to establish historical outcomes going back three years. In 2016, we began the collaborative implementation of the Indigenous Healing and Seeking Safety (IHSS) model for trauma therapy for clients at Benbowopka. Objective: The purpose of this proposal is to evaluate the effectiveness of the IHSS intervention which blends Indigenous Healing Practices and a mainstream treatment model, Seeking Safety for the treatment of Indigenous patients with a history of trauma and SUD. Methodology: In collaboration with the North Shore Tribal Council and the Benbowopka Treatment Center, we propose a prospective evaluation of IHSS treatment for Indigenous patients with a history of trauma and SUD. Benbowopka treats approximately 90 patients per year in a residential treatment program, and the program has high quality retrospective data on their programming and outcomes. We propose to benchmark anonymized historical program outcomes by evaluating program outcomes and the impact of program completion on health systems usage. Impact of treatment on health system usage will be determined by linking anonymized patient records with records at the Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Sciences (ICES). ICES linkage will provide further insight into hospitalizations, interaction with emergency, mental health, and primary care usage before and following the implementation of the IHSS intervention. We will respect the Tricouncil Policy Statement, Chapter 9, which highlights the importance of engaging with First Nations throughout all phases of the research process. In addition, we will honour Indigenous knowledge by engaging with Elders and the North Shore Tribal council. Through the data governance protocols established at ICES, we will respect the First Nations principles of ownership, control, access and possession of data (OCAP™). Dr. Jennifer Walker Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Health at the Center for Rural and Northern Health Research and ICES Scientist will oversee the process of data sharing and linking de-identified Benbowopka treatment data to anonymized health system data at ICES. Benbowopka and the North Shore Tribal council will maintain complete ownership over the study data and its subsequent dissemination. Anticipated Outcome: We expect that patients who are treated in the IHSS treatment model will have improved outcomes as compared to previous patients of Benbowopka treated under the abstinence based model of therapy. Objectives measures will include treatment completion, substance use at program completion, substance use at follow-up, ED visits, hospitalization, and death. Patient satisfaction will be tracked using surveys administered at treatment completion and is expected to improve with implementation of IHSS. Impact: We expect to demonstrate that the IHSS is a culturally sensitive and effective treatment model for Indigenous patients who are affected by trauma and substance use disorder.