PTSD
Conditions
Keywords
PTSD, Military Sexual Trauma, exposure therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, treatment
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to compare two kinds of therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): exposure therapy (ET) and Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT). The results of this study will allow us to see if IPT and ET are equally effective in treating PTSD due to Military Sexual Trauma, with the long-term goal of making PTSD treatment effective for as many people as possible.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALExposure Therapy
Psychotherapy including imaginal and in vivo exposure for PTSD.
BEHAVIORALInterpersonal Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy that focuses on the effects of PTSD on current interpersonal functioning.
Sponsors
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
United States Department of Defense
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 85 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* English-speaking * Military Sexual Trauma (MST) survivors, with MST defined as actual or threatened sexual violence, from Vietnam era to current Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation New Dawn * Diagnosed with PTSD consequent to MST, with a minimum CAPS score \> 40 * Medically stable at time of study enrollment (for persons with chronic injuries and that any disability present does not prevent attendance of weekly outpatient therapy sessions) * Ability to provide informed consent and function at an intellectual level sufficient to allow accurate completion of all assessment instruments * Stable on psychotropic medication for the prior 60 days
Exclusion criteria
* Lifetime or current diagnosis of schizophrenia or other psychotic disorder, bipolar disorder * Participation in a clinical trial or concurrent evidence-based treatment for MST-related psychiatric conditions or PTSD during the previous 3 months * Current evidence of significant unstable medical illness or organic brain impairment such that the patient could not attend sessions regularly or complete assessments * Patients who in the investigator's judgment pose a current homicidal or suicidal risk * Current or history of substance dependence in the past 90 days.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Difference in mean Clinician Administered PTSD Scale-5 (CAPS-5) score changes between the Exposure Therapy (ET) and Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) treatment groups from baseline to post-treatment | Baseline, 15 weeks in the IPT condition, 11 weeks in the ET condition | The CAPS-5 is used for rating the severity of PTSD symptoms. Scores range from 0-80 with higher scores indicating greater PTSD severity |
| Change in CAPS-5 scores from baseline to post-treatment for the ET treatment group | Baseline, 11 weeks | The CAPS-5 is used for rating the severity of PTSD symptoms. Scores range from 0-80 with higher scores indicating greater PTSD severity |
| Change in CAPS-5 scores from baseline to post-treatment for the IPT treatment group | Baseline, 15 weeks | The CAPS-5 is used for rating the severity of PTSD symptoms. Scores range from 0-80 with higher scores indicating greater PTSD severity |
Countries
United States
Contacts
CONTACTOlivia Baryluk, BS
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORJoAnn Difede, PhD
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Outcome results
None listed