Treatment of PTSD-Related Anger in Troops Returning from Hazardous Deployments
Abstract
The long-term goal of this research is to provide an effective intervention for the prevention of secondary and escalating effects of poor anger control associated with trauma-related anger problems. The specific objectives are to adapt an existing evidenced-based Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention (CBI) for the treatment of anger to the specific needs of military personnel returning from hazardous deployments, and to conduct a randomized pilot study providing preliminary data on the efficacy and acceptability of the adapted intervention in this population. The first phase of the study involves administering the current (adapted) version of CBI to n participants, and a clinically relevant comparison condition, Supportive Intervention (SI), to n participants. Based on their experiences treating participants in Phase 1, the authors have made some changes in inclusion criteria to target individuals who they believe are most appropriate for the treatment. For Phase II, they will exclude subjects with severe PTSD (CAPS > 70) given their experience that too severe anxiety requires different treatment. They also now assess and require evidence that clinically significant anger problems have persisted for at least 3 months to avoid spontaneous improvement. Progress: Phase I of the study is nearing completion, with 14 participants (12 in CBI and 2 in SI) entering treatment. Anticipated treatment completion rate for CBI is 8 of 12 (66%). Based on Phase I experience, the CBI manual has been extensively modified, and less extensive changes have been made to the SI manual. Protocol changes have been approved by local IRBs and have been submitted to the Department of Defense. The randomized pilot study (Phase II) will begin in the near future.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA468883
Entities
People
- M. T. Shea
Organizations
- Brown University