A randomized trial of brief couple therapy for PTSD and relationship satisfaction.

OBJECTIVE: This three-arm randomized trial tested a brief version of cognitive-behavioral conjoint therapy (bCBCT) delivered in two modalities compared to couples' psychoeducation in a sample of U.S. veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and their intimate partners. METHOD: Couples were randomized to receive (a) in-person, office-based bCBCT (OB-bCBCT), (b) bCBCT delivered via home-based telehealth (HB-bCBCT), or (c) an in-person psychoeducation comparison condition (PTSD family education [OB-PFE]). Primary outcomes were clinician-assessed PTSD severity (Clinician Administered PTSD Scale), self-reported psychosocial functioning (Brief Inventory of Psychosocial Functioning), and relationship satisfaction (Couples Satisfaction Index) at posttreatment and through 6-month follow-up. RESULTS: PTSD symptoms significantly decreased by posttreatment with all three treatments, but compared to PFE, PTSD symptoms declined significantly more for veterans in OB-bCBCT (between-group d = 0.59 [0.17, 1.01]) and HB-bCBCT (between-group d = 0.76 [0.33, 1.19]) treatments. There were no significant differences between OB-bCBCT and HB-bCBCT. Psychosocial functioning and relationship satisfaction showed significant small to moderate improvements, with no differences between treatments. All changes were maintained through 6-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: A briefer, more scalable version of CBCT showed sustained effectiveness relative to an active control for improving PTSD symptoms when delivered in-person or via telehealth. Both bCBCT and couples' psychoeducation improved psychosocial and relational outcomes. These results could have a major impact on PTSD treatment delivery within large systems of care where access to brief, evidence-based PTSD treatments incorporating family members are needed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The incorporation of emotion-regulation skills into couple- and family-based treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disabling, potentially chronic disorder that is characterized by re-experience and hyperarousal symptoms as well as the avoidance of trauma-related stimuli. The distress experienced by many veterans of the Vietnam War and their partners prompted a strong interest in developing conjoint interventions that could both alleviate the core symptoms of PTSD and strengthen family bonds. We review the evolution of and evidence base for conjoint PTSD treatments from the Vietnam era through the post-911 era. Our review is particularly focused on the use of treatment strategies that are designed to address the emotions that are generated by the core symptoms of the disorder to reduce their adverse impact on veterans, their partners and the relationship. We present a rationale and evidence to support the direct incorporation of emotion-regulation skills training into conjoint interventions for PTSD. We begin by reviewing emerging evidence suggesting that high levels of emotion dysregulation are characteristic of and predict the severity of both PTSD symptoms and the level of interpersonal/marital difficulties reported by veterans with PTSD and their family members. In doing so, we present a compelling rationale for the inclusion of formal skills training in emotional regulation in couple-/family-based PTSD treatments. We further argue that increased exposure to trauma-related memories and emotions in treatments based on learning theory requires veterans and their partners to learn to manage the uncomfortable emotions that they previously avoided. Conjoint treatments that were developed in the last 30 years all acknowledge the importance of emotions in PTSD but vary widely in their relative emphasis on helping participants to acquire strategies to modulate them compared to other therapeutic tasks such as learning about the disorder or disclosing the trauma to a loved one. We conclude our review by describing two recent innovative treatments for PTSD that incorporate a special emphasis on emotion-regulation skills training in the dyadic context: structured approach therapy (SAT) and multi-family group for military couples (MFG-MC). Although the incorporation of emotion-regulation skills into conjoint PTSD therapies appears promising, replication and comparison to cognitive-behavioral approaches is needed to refine our understanding of which symptoms and veterans might be more responsive to one approach versus others.

Structured Approach Therapy for Combat-Related PTSD in Returning U.S. Veterans: Complementary Mediation by Changes in Emotion Functioning.

To address the impact of combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on U.S. Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) veterans, the investigators developed a 12-session manualized PTSD treatment for couples called structured approach therapy (SAT). A randomized controlled trial had shown that 29 OEF/OIF veterans with combat-related PTSD who had participated in SAT showed significantly greater reductions in PTSD compared to 28 veterans receiving a 12-session PTSD family education intervention (Sautter, Glynn, Cretu, Senturk, & Vaught, 2015). We conducted supplemental follow-up and mediation analyses, which tested the hypothesis that changes in emotion functioning play a significant role in the decreases in PTSD symptoms primarily observed in veterans who had received SAT. Veterans assigned to the SAT condition showed significantly greater decreases than those assigned to PTSD family education in emotion regulation problems (p < .001, Cohen's f(2) = .18) and fear of intense emotions (p < .001, Cohen's f(2) = .152). Decreases in both emotion regulation problems (mediated effect:ab̂= .36), and fear of intense emotions (mediated effect:ab̂ = .24) were found to be complementary mediators of reductions in PTSD symptoms greater with SAT. These findings suggest that SAT may aid veterans in improving their ability to regulate trauma-related emotions.