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Symposia
Treatment - CBT
Laura Meis, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)
Clinical Psychologist
National Center for PTSD, Center for Care Delivery & Outcomes Research, Minneapolis VA
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Afsoon Eftekhari, PhD
Psychologist
National Center For PTSD
Menlo Park, California, United States
Shannon Kehle-Forbes, PhD
Psychologist
Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Christopher Chuick, PhD
Staff Psychologist
Minneapolis VA Healthcare System
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Christie King, PhD
Staff Psychologist
Minneapolis VA Healthcare System
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Jenna Robison-Andrew, PhD,
Staff Psychologist
Minneapolis VA Healthcare System
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Erin Linden, MPH
Project Manager
Center for Care Delivery and Outcomes Research, Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Emily Campbell, MA
Research Coordinator
Center for Care Delivery and Outcomes Research, Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
.jpg "Shirley Glynn, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) photo")
Shirley Glynn, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)
Research Psychologist
VA/UCLA
Los Angeles, California, United States
PTSD occurs in ~17% of post-9/11 US military Service Members and is related to long-term functional impairments, family problems, unemployment, and suicidality. First-line therapies, like Prolonged Exposure (PE) for PTSD, consistently lead to significant symptom relief. Yet, a minority (~30-51%) will not experience clinically meaningful improvements (Steenkamp et al., 2015). Work is needed to improve the consistency and potency of these treatments. Relationship factors can help patients with PTSD initiate, complete, and better benefit from PTSD treatment and partnering with significant others may help Veterans get more out of PTSD treatment. A couples-based adaptation of PE integrating intimate partners into weekly PE sessions could provide the opportunity to mobilize veterans’ relationships in the service of treatment engagement, while extending the goals of therapy to family functioning. We conduced a pilot study with 10 veteran-partner dyads to develop and evaluate a partner-assisted adaptation of PE (Partnered PE; PPE). Three veterans identified as women, 6 as men, and 1 as a trans woman. Eight veterans identified as straight, one bisexual, and one gay/lesbian. Eight identified as White and two as Native American. Participants completed baseline, posttreatment, and 3-month follow-up surveys and posttreatment qualitative interviews. Of those who started treatment, 80% attended at least 8 sessions (a benchmark for adequate treatment dose). Thirty-three percent discontinued treatment prior to completing the full protocol. Participants reported high satisfaction with the treatment on surveys and in qualitative interviews. Pre-to-posttreatment effect sizes were large across multiple outcomes for veterans, including PTSD severity (g = 1.75), mental health functioning (g = 1.02), and depression (g = 1.85), and relationship functioning (g = 1.68). For partners, pre-to-post treatment effects were moderate-to-large, including improvements in psychosocial functioning (g = .51) and relationship functioning (g = .98). The pattern of initial effects is promising and supports the acceptability and feasibility of PPE.