Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
Conditions
Keywords
post-traumatic stress; dissociation; structured writing; pilot study
Brief summary
Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, safety, and preliminary effects of an integrated online program with psychoeducation and expressive writing components for people with probable post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and coexisting dissociative symptoms. Hypotheses to be tested: The program will be feasible, acceptable, and safe to participants. When compared with the waitlist control group, participants in the treatment group will report significantly lower PTSD symptom severity, lower dissociative symptom severity, and greater improvement on coping immediately post-intervention. Design and subjects: An assessor-blind, two-arm, randomised waitlist-controlled pilot study is proposed; 90 community adults with significant PTSD and dissociative symptoms will be recruited. Instruments: The PTSD Checklist 5, Dissociative Experiences Scale-Taxon, and Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced inventory will be used. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted for process evaluation. Intervention: A 10-week integrated online program with psychoeducational and expressive writing components. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome is PTSD symptom severity. The secondary outcomes are dissociative symptom severity and coping. The feasibility, acceptability, and safety of the program will also be examined. Data analysis: Feasibility and acceptability of the program will be assessed by examining the attrition rate, adherence rate, duration of subject recruitment, and post-program individual interviews. Generalised estimating equations with covariate adjustments will be used to examine the preliminary effects of the program. Expected results: Adults in the community who experienced significant PTSD and dissociative symptoms will become more resourceful to cope with their traumatic experiences and show more improvements on PTSD and dissociative symptoms.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALAn integrated online program
Our integrated online program combines validated psychoeducational materials on dissociation with components of strucutred writing therapy.
Sponsors
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Masking description
Allocation concealment will be ensured with the help of an independent statistician, who will be responsible for conducting the randomisation but will not be involved in any other parts of the project.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
(a) be Hong Kong Chinese residents between the ages of 18 and 65; (b) be able to read, write, and speak in Chinese/Cantonese; (c) meet the operational definitions of probable PTSD and coexisting dissociative symptoms in screening \[score ≥31 on the Chinese version of the PTSD Checklist 5 (PCL-5) and ≥20 on the Chinese version of the Dissociative Experiences Scale-Taxon (DES-T)\]; and (d) have access to a digital device with internet connectivity, such as a smartphone, tablet, or computer.
Exclusion criteria
(a) having participated in or currently receiving other psychoeducation/psychotherapies for PTSD or dissociative symptoms; (b) having clinically significant medical conditions that may interfere with safe study participation; (c) concurrent substance dependence, acute suicidality, psychosis, or gross cognitive impairment; and (d) visual, language, or communication difficulties.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptom severity | The outcome will be measured at baseline (T0) and immediately post-intervention (T1). | The Chinese version PTSD Checklist 5 (PCL-5) will be used to measure DSM-5 PTSD symptom severity. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Dissociative symptom severity | The outcome will be measured at baseline (T0) and immediately post-intervention (T1). | The Chinese version Dissociative Experiences Scale-Taxon (DES-T) will be used to measure dissociative symptom severity. |
| Coping | The outcome will be measured at baseline (T0) and immediately post-intervention (T1). | The Chinese version Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced inventory (Brief-COPE) will be used to measure coping. |
Countries
Hong Kong
Contacts
Primary ContactStanley Kam Ki Lam, PhD
Outcome results
None listed