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Mindful Self Compassion for Combat Deployed Veterans With Moral Injury and Co-occurring PTSD-SUD

Mindful Self Compassion for Combat Deployed Veterans With Moral Injury and Co-occurring PTSD-SUD

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03681288
Enrollment
34
Registered
2018-09-24
Start date
2019-07-08
Completion date
2021-03-31
Last updated
2024-06-21

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Moral Injury, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Substance Use Disorder

Keywords

PTSD, substance use disorder, moral injury, self-compassion, mindfulness, Veterans

Brief summary

Veterans with co-occurring Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Substance Use Disorder (PTSD-SUD) experience more severe symptomatology and poorer response to existing treatments than Veterans with either disorder alone. Guilt is a common posttraumatic reaction and has been implicated as a risk factor for the development and maintenance of PTSD and substance use. Combat Veterans often report experiencing moral injury defined as perpetrating, failing to prevent, or witnessing acts that violate the values they live by in their civilian lives, which can lead to feelings of guilt and shame. Accordingly, reduction in guilt and increase in self-compassion may lead to improved quality of life for Veterans. This project will conduct a pilot study to evaluate changes in self-compassion, guilt, and PTSD-SUD symptom severity in a sample of Veterans after receiving 8 sessions of Mindful Self Compassion treatment (via a telehealth modality during COVID-19 pandemic). Findings will have significant impact on effective treatment options and lead to improvements in Veterans' quality of life and posttraumatic symptoms.

Detailed description

PTSD-SUD is particularly common following combat exposure, affecting a rapidly increasing number of U.S. military Veterans. The co-occurrence of these disorders presents added challenges to the VA treatment delivery system, presently in need of effective integrated treatments. Veterans with PTSD-SUD experience more severe symptomatology, increased risk of suicidality, poorer quality of life, and poorer response to existing treatments than Veterans with either disorder alone. Furthermore, PTSD-SUD prevents Veterans from reintegrating into society and is associated with occupational and social dysfunction. These findings underscore the need to effectively and efficiently address comorbidity and the complex array of problems with which Veterans present to treatment. One approach is to develop interventions that target mechanisms thought to underlie multiple highly prevalent disorders, such as guilt related to traumatic experiences. Combat Veterans often report experiencing moral injury defined as perpetrating, failing to prevent, or witnessing acts that violate the values they live by in their civilian lives. Veterans who negatively appraise their actions or inaction during combat may experience guilt, a common posttraumatic reaction. Moral injury suggests the inability to contextualize or justify actions and the unsuccessful accommodation of those morally challenging experiences into pre-existing moral schemas, resulting in guilt and shame. Posttraumatic guilt has been implicated as a risk factor for the development and maintenance of several forms of psychopathology including PTSD, SUD, depression, and suicidality. However, to date, treatments for posttraumatic psychological health issues have been primarily disorder specific, with a focus largely on symptom reduction. Therefore, greater understanding of modifiable factors that influence functional impairment and PTSD-SUD is needed to enhance treatment efforts. Mindful Self Compassion (MSC) combines the skills of mindfulness and self-compassion, providing self-soothing skills to respond to difficult thoughts and feelings (including guilt) via meditation. Self-compassion (SC) emphasizes kindness towards one's self, a feeling of connectedness with others, and mindful awareness of distressing experiences. Furthermore, because SC is negatively associated with self-criticism, rumination, thought suppression, anxiety, and depression, and positively associated with healthy psychological functioning, it is well suited to addressing posttraumatic psychopathology, shame, and guilt. This proposal will begin to address a gap in the field's knowledge about MSC, and its role in the treatment of co-occurring disorders in Veterans with moral injury. The investigators will evaluate changes in self-compassion, post-traumatic guilt, shame, PTSD and substance use symptom severity. In addition to symptom reduction, the investigators will focus on functional outcomes (e.g., quality of life, suicidality). Participants will complete assessments at baseline, post-treatment, and 1-month follow-up. This project will allow us to 1) determine the feasibility of recruitment, 2) determine the acceptability of MSC, 3) provide preliminary evidence of the effects of MSC, and 4) refine study procedures and make adaptations to MSC based upon experience gained in the pilot in preparation for a fully powered randomized control trial (RCT) to test the effectiveness of MSC.

Interventions

Mindful Self-Compassion Intervention

Sponsors

Providence VA Medical Center
CollaboratorFED
VA Office of Research and Development
Lead SponsorFED

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* moral injury as captured by at least one strongly agree response on the Moral Injury Events Scale * diagnosis of PTSD (within the last 30 days) confirmed by the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) with a total symptom score of 22 or more * diagnosis of a substance use disorder confirmed by the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-5 (DSM-5) Section E (SCID-E) within the last year * willing and able to provide informed consent * not currently receiving trauma-focused treatment

Exclusion criteria

* individuals with an acute psychotic disorder or acute psychotic symptoms are not eligible if their symptoms are unstable and if they are not well connected with appropriate mental health services * patients with a psychiatric hospitalization or suicide attempt within the past month will be excluded * currently receiving trauma-focused treatment, e.g., (Prolonged Exposure (PE), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for PTSD) * Patients currently enrolled in trauma-focused treatment may be enrolled when they have completed the treatment if they remain interested and continue to have PTSD * individuals with life-threatening or unstable medical illness. Diagnoses of mild cognitive impairment (e.g. mTBI) and other anxiety and depressive disorders will not be excluded because of their high comorbidity with PTSD and SUD

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Trauma Related Shame Inventory (TRSI); Change From Baseline in Trauma-related Shame at 1-Month Follow-up1-Month Follow-up (12-14 weeks post baseline)The TRSI is a 24-item self-report measure assessing trauma-related shame on a 4-point Likert scale (Not true of me=0, Somewhat true of me=1, Mostly true of me=2, Completely true of me=3). A total shame score is summed ranging from 0-72 which higher scores reflecting a greater level of trauma-related shame.
Self-Compassion Scale (SCS); Change From Baseline in Self-Compassion at Post-treatmentPost-Tx (8-10 weeks post baseline)The Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) is a 26-item self-report questionnaire that measures the cognitions and emotions associated with compassionate and uncompassionate responses to feelings of personal inadequacy and general life difficulties. Scores for negative items representing uncompassionate self-responding are reverse-coded to indicate their absence. Responses are given on a 5-point scale from 1-Almost Never to 5-Almost Always. A total mean score is generated with higher scores corresponding to higher levels of self-compassion. Consider scores 1.0-2.49 to be low, between 2.5-3.5 to be moderate, and 3.51-5.0 to be high.
Self-Compassion Scale (SCS); Change From Baseline in Self-Compassion at 1 Month Follow-up1-Month Follow-up (12-14 weeks post baseline)The Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) is a 26-item self-report questionnaire that measures the cognitions and emotions associated with compassionate and uncompassionate responses to feelings of personal inadequacy and general life difficulties. Scores for negative items representing uncompassionate self-responding are reverse-coded to indicate their absence. Responses are given on a 5-point scale from 1-Almost Never to 5-Almost Always. A total mean score is generated with higher scores corresponding to higher levels of self-compassion. Consider scores 1.0-2.49 to be low, between 2.5-3.5 to be moderate, and 3.51-5.0 to be high.
Trauma-Related Guilt Inventory (TRGI) - Distress Scale; Change From Baseline in Trauma-related Guilt Distress at Post-treatmentPost-Tx (8-10 weeks post baseline)The TRGI distress subscale is made up of 6 items (e.g., I experience severe emotional distress when I think about what happened). Respondents rate each statement using a 5-point Likert scale to indicate the degree to which they believe the statement is true about themselves (i.e., Extremely True=4, Very True=3, Somewhat True=2, Slightly True=1, or Never True=0). The items are summed and divided by 6 to create an average score raging from 0-4 with higher scores reflecting higher levels of distress.
Trauma-Related Guilt Inventory (TRGI) - Distress Scale; Change From Baseline in Trauma-related Guilt at 1-Month Follow-up1-Month Follow-up (12-14 weeks post baseline)The TRGI distress subscale is made up of 6 items (e.g., I experience severe emotional distress when I think about what happened). Respondents rate each statement using a 5-point Likert scale to indicate the degree to which they believe the statement is true about themselves (i.e., Extremely True=4, Very True=3, Somewhat True=2, Slightly True=1, or Never True=0). The items are summed and divided by 6 to create an average score raging from 0-4 with higher scores reflecting higher levels of distress.
Trauma-Related Shame Inventory (TRSI); Change From Baseline in Trauma-related Shame at Post-treatment Follow-upPost-Tx (8-10 weeks post baseline)The TRSI is a 24-item self-report measure assessing trauma-related shame on a 4-point Likert scale (Not true of me=0, Somewhat true of me=1, Mostly true of me=2, Completely true of me=3). A total shame score is summed ranging from 0-72 which higher scores reflecting a greater level of trauma-related shame.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS-5); Change From Baseline in PTSD Symptoms at 1-Month Follow-up1-Month Follow-up (12-14 weeks post baseline)The Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) is a semi-structured interview used to assess PTSD diagnostic criteria and severity. The CAPS assesses each of the 20 items from the DSM-5 criteria B, C, D, and E. The assessor combines information about frequency and intensity of an item into a single severity rating (0=Absent; 1=Mild/subthreshold; 2=Moderate/threshold; 3=Severe/markedly elevated; 4=Extreme/incapacitating). CAPS-5 total symptom severity score is calculated by summing severity scores for the 20 DSM-5 PTSD symptoms (range = 0-80). Similarly, CAPS-5 symptom cluster severity scores are calculated by summing the individual item severity scores for symptoms corresponding to a given DSM-5 cluster: Criterion B (items 1-5); Criterion C (items 6-7); Criterion D (items 8-14); and, Criterion E (items 15-20). Higher scores indicate worse PTSD symptoms.
Timeline Follow-back; Change From Baseline in Days Used Alcohol (Past 90 Days) at Post-treatmentPost-Tx (8-10 weeks)The Timeline Follow-back (TLFB) is a drinking assessment method that obtains estimates of daily drinking. The TLFB evaluates alcohol and other substance use during the previous 90 days. Using a calendar, people provide retrospective estimates of their daily drinking over a specified time period. The TLFB was used to establish: days respondents used alcohol.
Timeline Follow-Back (TLFB); Change From Baseline in Days Used Alcohol (Past 90 Days) at 1 Month Follow Up1-Month Follow-up (12-14 weeks post baseline)The Timeline Follow-back (TLFB) is a drinking assessment method that obtains estimates of daily drinking. The TLFB evaluates alcohol and other substance use during the previous 90 days. Using a calendar, people provide retrospective estimates of their daily drinking over a specified time period. The TLFB was used to establish: number of days respondents used alcohol.
Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-5 (DSM-5); Change From Baseline in PTSD Symptoms at Post-TreatmentPost-Tx (8-10 weeks post baseline)The Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) is a semi-structured interview used to assess PTSD diagnostic criteria and severity. The CAPS assesses each of the 20 items from the DSM-5 criteria B, C, D, and E. The assessor combines information about frequency and intensity of an item into a single severity rating (0=Absent; 1=Mild/subthreshold; 2=Moderate/threshold; 3=Severe/markedly elevated; 4=Extreme/incapacitating). CAPS-5 total symptom severity score is calculated by summing severity scores for the 20 DSM-5 PTSD symptoms (range = 0-80). Similarly, CAPS-5 symptom cluster severity scores are calculated by summing the individual item severity scores for symptoms corresponding to a given DSM-5 cluster: Criterion B (items 1-5); Criterion C (items 6-7); Criterion D (items 8-14); and, Criterion E (items 15-20). Higher scores indicate worse PTSD symptoms.

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Recruitment details

During a 18-month period, the investigators enrolled 34 patients who were referred or self-referred themselves to the Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program at the Providence VA Medical Center. 76.5% (n=26) of eligible participants who completed the baseline assessment enrolled in MSC by attending the first session.

Participants by arm

ArmCount
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC)
Mindful Self-Compassion Intervention
26
Total26

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicMindful Self-Compassion (MSC)
Age, Continuous50.92 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 15.59
Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS-5)41.33 units on a scale
STANDARD_DEVIATION 8.98
Education Level
College Graduate
2 Participants
Education Level
High School Grad/GED
6 Participants
Education Level
Post-Graduate/Professional Degree
5 Participants
Education Level
Some College/Technical School
13 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Hispanic or Latino
Hispanic or Latino
0 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Hispanic or Latino
Not Hispanic or Latino
26 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Hispanic or Latino
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants
PTSD Checklist (PCL-5)57.67 units on a scale
STANDARD_DEVIATION 17.01
Race (NIH/OMB)
American Indian or Alaska Native
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Asian
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Black or African American
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
More than one race
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
White
26 Participants
Relationship Status
Divorced
5 Participants
Relationship Status
Married or in a committed relationship (living together)
15 Participants
Relationship Status
Separated
1 Participants
Relationship Status
Single
5 Participants
Self-Compassion Scale (SCS)2.27 units on a scale
STANDARD_DEVIATION 0.64
Sex: Female, Male
Female
0 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
26 Participants
Trauma Related Guilt Inventory (TRGI) - Distress Subscale3.05 units on a scale
STANDARD_DEVIATION 0.93
Trauma Related Guilt Inventory (TRGI) - Global Guilt Subscale1.83 units on a scale
STANDARD_DEVIATION 0.61
Trauma Related Guilt Inventory (TRGI) - Guilt Cognitions Subscale1.58 units on a scale
STANDARD_DEVIATION 0.84
Trauma Related Shame Inventory (TRSI)26.84 units on a scale
STANDARD_DEVIATION 20.09

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
2 / 26
other
Total, other adverse events
1 / 26
serious
Total, serious adverse events
1 / 26

Outcome results

Primary

Self-Compassion Scale (SCS); Change From Baseline in Self-Compassion at 1 Month Follow-up

The Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) is a 26-item self-report questionnaire that measures the cognitions and emotions associated with compassionate and uncompassionate responses to feelings of personal inadequacy and general life difficulties. Scores for negative items representing uncompassionate self-responding are reverse-coded to indicate their absence. Responses are given on a 5-point scale from 1-Almost Never to 5-Almost Always. A total mean score is generated with higher scores corresponding to higher levels of self-compassion. Consider scores 1.0-2.49 to be low, between 2.5-3.5 to be moderate, and 3.51-5.0 to be high.

Time frame: 1-Month Follow-up (12-14 weeks post baseline)

Population: The investigators examined clinically meaningful change among treatment completers with complete pre- and post-treatment data using the standard error of measurement for the total self-compassion score on the SCS. The investigators defined meaningful change as a reduction in scores by at least one SEM. The mean difference from baseline to one-month follow-up was calculated.

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC)Self-Compassion Scale (SCS); Change From Baseline in Self-Compassion at 1 Month Follow-up1.26 score on a scaleStandard Error 0.21
Primary

Self-Compassion Scale (SCS); Change From Baseline in Self-Compassion at Post-treatment

The Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) is a 26-item self-report questionnaire that measures the cognitions and emotions associated with compassionate and uncompassionate responses to feelings of personal inadequacy and general life difficulties. Scores for negative items representing uncompassionate self-responding are reverse-coded to indicate their absence. Responses are given on a 5-point scale from 1-Almost Never to 5-Almost Always. A total mean score is generated with higher scores corresponding to higher levels of self-compassion. Consider scores 1.0-2.49 to be low, between 2.5-3.5 to be moderate, and 3.51-5.0 to be high.

Time frame: Post-Tx (8-10 weeks post baseline)

Population: The investigators examined clinically meaningful change among treatment completers with complete pre- and post-treatment data using the standard error of measurement (SEM) for the total self-compassion score on the SCS. The investigators defined meaningful change as a reduction in scores by at least one SEM. The mean difference from baseline to post-treatment was calculated.

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC)Self-Compassion Scale (SCS); Change From Baseline in Self-Compassion at Post-treatment0.45 score on a scaleStandard Error 0.21
Primary

Trauma-Related Guilt Inventory (TRGI) - Distress Scale; Change From Baseline in Trauma-related Guilt at 1-Month Follow-up

The TRGI distress subscale is made up of 6 items (e.g., I experience severe emotional distress when I think about what happened). Respondents rate each statement using a 5-point Likert scale to indicate the degree to which they believe the statement is true about themselves (i.e., Extremely True=4, Very True=3, Somewhat True=2, Slightly True=1, or Never True=0). The items are summed and divided by 6 to create an average score raging from 0-4 with higher scores reflecting higher levels of distress.

Time frame: 1-Month Follow-up (12-14 weeks post baseline)

Population: The investigators examined clinically meaningful change among treatment completers with complete pre- and post-treatment data using the standard error of measurement for the Distress subscale on the TRGI. The investigators defined meaningful change as a reduction in scores by at least one SEM. The mean difference from baseline to 1-month follow-up was calculated.

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC)Trauma-Related Guilt Inventory (TRGI) - Distress Scale; Change From Baseline in Trauma-related Guilt at 1-Month Follow-up-0.45 score on a scaleStandard Error 0.34
Primary

Trauma-Related Guilt Inventory (TRGI) - Distress Scale; Change From Baseline in Trauma-related Guilt Distress at Post-treatment

The TRGI distress subscale is made up of 6 items (e.g., I experience severe emotional distress when I think about what happened). Respondents rate each statement using a 5-point Likert scale to indicate the degree to which they believe the statement is true about themselves (i.e., Extremely True=4, Very True=3, Somewhat True=2, Slightly True=1, or Never True=0). The items are summed and divided by 6 to create an average score raging from 0-4 with higher scores reflecting higher levels of distress.

Time frame: Post-Tx (8-10 weeks post baseline)

Population: The investigators examined clinically meaningful change among treatment completers with complete pre- and post-treatment data using the standard error of measurement for the Distress subscale on the TRGI. The investigators defined meaningful change as a reduction in scores by at least one SEM. The mean difference from baseline to post-treatment was calculated.

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC)Trauma-Related Guilt Inventory (TRGI) - Distress Scale; Change From Baseline in Trauma-related Guilt Distress at Post-treatment-0.28 score on a scaleStandard Error 0.34
Primary

Trauma Related Shame Inventory (TRSI); Change From Baseline in Trauma-related Shame at 1-Month Follow-up

The TRSI is a 24-item self-report measure assessing trauma-related shame on a 4-point Likert scale (Not true of me=0, Somewhat true of me=1, Mostly true of me=2, Completely true of me=3). A total shame score is summed ranging from 0-72 which higher scores reflecting a greater level of trauma-related shame.

Time frame: 1-Month Follow-up (12-14 weeks post baseline)

Population: The investigators examined clinically meaningful change among treatment completers with complete pre- and post-treatment data using the standard error of measurement for the TRSI sum score. The investigators defined meaningful change as a reduction in scores by at least one SEM. The mean difference from baseline to one-month follow-up was calculated.

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC)Trauma Related Shame Inventory (TRSI); Change From Baseline in Trauma-related Shame at 1-Month Follow-up-8.46 score on a scaleStandard Error 3.04
Primary

Trauma-Related Shame Inventory (TRSI); Change From Baseline in Trauma-related Shame at Post-treatment Follow-up

The TRSI is a 24-item self-report measure assessing trauma-related shame on a 4-point Likert scale (Not true of me=0, Somewhat true of me=1, Mostly true of me=2, Completely true of me=3). A total shame score is summed ranging from 0-72 which higher scores reflecting a greater level of trauma-related shame.

Time frame: Post-Tx (8-10 weeks post baseline)

Population: The investigators examined clinically meaningful change among treatment completers with complete pre- and post-treatment data using the standard error of measurement for the TRSI sum score. The investigators defined meaningful change as a reduction in scores by at least one SEM. The mean difference from baseline to post-treatment was calculated.

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC)Trauma-Related Shame Inventory (TRSI); Change From Baseline in Trauma-related Shame at Post-treatment Follow-up-5.94 score on a scaleStandard Error 3.04
Secondary

Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS-5); Change From Baseline in PTSD Symptoms at 1-Month Follow-up

The Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) is a semi-structured interview used to assess PTSD diagnostic criteria and severity. The CAPS assesses each of the 20 items from the DSM-5 criteria B, C, D, and E. The assessor combines information about frequency and intensity of an item into a single severity rating (0=Absent; 1=Mild/subthreshold; 2=Moderate/threshold; 3=Severe/markedly elevated; 4=Extreme/incapacitating). CAPS-5 total symptom severity score is calculated by summing severity scores for the 20 DSM-5 PTSD symptoms (range = 0-80). Similarly, CAPS-5 symptom cluster severity scores are calculated by summing the individual item severity scores for symptoms corresponding to a given DSM-5 cluster: Criterion B (items 1-5); Criterion C (items 6-7); Criterion D (items 8-14); and, Criterion E (items 15-20). Higher scores indicate worse PTSD symptoms.

Time frame: 1-Month Follow-up (12-14 weeks post baseline)

Population: Clinically meaningful change among treatment completers with complete pre- and post-treatment data was examined using the standard error of measurement for the CAPS total severity sum score. We defined meaningful change as a reduction in scores by at least one SEM. The mean difference from baseline to one-month post-treatment for the CAPS total severity sum score was calculated.

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC)Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS-5); Change From Baseline in PTSD Symptoms at 1-Month Follow-up-8.96 score on a scaleStandard Error 4.28
Secondary

Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-5 (DSM-5); Change From Baseline in PTSD Symptoms at Post-Treatment

The Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) is a semi-structured interview used to assess PTSD diagnostic criteria and severity. The CAPS assesses each of the 20 items from the DSM-5 criteria B, C, D, and E. The assessor combines information about frequency and intensity of an item into a single severity rating (0=Absent; 1=Mild/subthreshold; 2=Moderate/threshold; 3=Severe/markedly elevated; 4=Extreme/incapacitating). CAPS-5 total symptom severity score is calculated by summing severity scores for the 20 DSM-5 PTSD symptoms (range = 0-80). Similarly, CAPS-5 symptom cluster severity scores are calculated by summing the individual item severity scores for symptoms corresponding to a given DSM-5 cluster: Criterion B (items 1-5); Criterion C (items 6-7); Criterion D (items 8-14); and, Criterion E (items 15-20). Higher scores indicate worse PTSD symptoms.

Time frame: Post-Tx (8-10 weeks post baseline)

Population: Clinically meaningful change among treatment completers with complete pre- and post-treatment data was examined using the standard error of measurement for the CAPS total severity sum score. The investigators defined meaningful change as a reduction in scores by at least one SEM. The mean difference from baseline to post-treatment for the CAPS total severity sum score was calculated.

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC)Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-5 (DSM-5); Change From Baseline in PTSD Symptoms at Post-Treatment-5.86 score on a scaleStandard Error 4.28
Secondary

Timeline Follow-back; Change From Baseline in Days Used Alcohol (Past 90 Days) at Post-treatment

The Timeline Follow-back (TLFB) is a drinking assessment method that obtains estimates of daily drinking. The TLFB evaluates alcohol and other substance use during the previous 90 days. Using a calendar, people provide retrospective estimates of their daily drinking over a specified time period. The TLFB was used to establish: days respondents used alcohol.

Time frame: Post-Tx (8-10 weeks)

Population: Clinically meaningful change among treatment completers with complete pre- and post-treatment data was examined using the standard error of measurement for days used alcohol (last 90 days; TLFB). The investigators defined meaningful change as a reduction in scores by at least one SEM. The mean difference from baseline to post-treatment for the days used alcohol was calculated.

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC)Timeline Follow-back; Change From Baseline in Days Used Alcohol (Past 90 Days) at Post-treatment-24.30 days used alcoholStandard Error 15.8
Secondary

Timeline Follow-Back (TLFB); Change From Baseline in Days Used Alcohol (Past 90 Days) at 1 Month Follow Up

The Timeline Follow-back (TLFB) is a drinking assessment method that obtains estimates of daily drinking. The TLFB evaluates alcohol and other substance use during the previous 90 days. Using a calendar, people provide retrospective estimates of their daily drinking over a specified time period. The TLFB was used to establish: number of days respondents used alcohol.

Time frame: 1-Month Follow-up (12-14 weeks post baseline)

Population: Clinically meaningful change among treatment completers with complete pre- and post-treatment data was examined using the standard error of measurement for days used alcohol (last 90 days; TLFB). The investigators defined meaningful change as a reduction in scores by at least one SEM. The mean difference from baseline to one-month follow-up for the days used alcohol was calculated.

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC)Timeline Follow-Back (TLFB); Change From Baseline in Days Used Alcohol (Past 90 Days) at 1 Month Follow Up-26.20 days used alcoholStandard Error 15.8

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026