The Trauma Recovery and Resiliency Research Project

NCT ID: NCT00131534

Last Updated: 2017-04-18

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Total Enrollment: 969 participants
• Study Classification: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Start Date: 1991-08-31
• Study Completion Date: 2012-01-31

Brief Summary

The overall purpose of this study is the assessment of treatment outcome among traumatized patients seeking individual and/or group therapy at the Victims of Violence Program. The study gathers information from patients using quantitative (self-report) and qualitative (interview-based) approaches, to determine changes in symptom patterns and domains of functioning relevant to psychological trauma.

Detailed Description

The focus of the Trauma Recovery and Resiliency Project is primarily the evaluation of treatment outcome among complexly traumatized patients seeking individual and/or group therapy at the Victims of Violence (VOV) Program, a specialty clinic located in the Outpatient Psychiatry Department of the Cambridge Health Alliance and affiliated with Harvard Medical School. The project has two major components: (1) All patients seeking VOV treatment are administered a battery of self-report measures assessing symptoms associated with complex trauma (i.e., interpersonal trauma that is usually repeated and prolonged) (2) A subsample of patients are interviewed using the Multidimensional Trauma Recovery and Resiliency Interview (MTRRI) and its companion rating scale (MTRR; Harvey et al, 1994, 2000, 2003) to assess trauma impact, recovery and resiliency on eight domains of psychological functioning. Data is analyzed using quantitative and qualitative approaches to evaluate treatment effectiveness and elucidate the recovery trajectories of patients receiving VOV treatment. Two subprojects include (a) preparation of a treatment manual documenting the Women's Trauma Recovery Group, and (b) pilot testing a new interview-based measure of complex trauma symptoms, the Symptoms of Trauma Scale (SOTS).

Conditions

Posttraumatic Stress Disorders

Study Design

• Observational Model Type: OTHER
• Study Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE

Interventions

Individual therapy

Stage-based individual therapy for trauma survivors

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Group therapy

Stage-based group therapy for trauma survivors

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• In individual or group therapy at VOV program
• Consents to research participation

Exclusion Criteria

• Insufficient proficiency in English to complete self-report measures and/or interview
• Research participation clinically counterindicated

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 65 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Cambridge Health Alliance

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Mary R. Harvey, Ph.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Victims of Violence Program, Cambridge Health Alliance

Judith L. Herman, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Victims of Violence Program, Cambridge Health Alliance

Michaela Mendelsohn, Ph.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Victims of Violence Program, Cambridge Health Alliance

Locations

Victims of Violence Program, Cambridge Health Alliance

Somerville, Massachusetts, United States

Countries

United States

References

Lynch SM, Forman E, Mendelsohn M, Herman J. Attending to dissociation: assessing change in dissociation and predicting treatment outcome. J Trauma Dissociation. 2008;9(3):301-19. doi: 10.1080/15299730802139063.

Reference Type: RESULT

PMID: 19042780 (View on PubMed)

Dutra L, Callahan K, Forman E, Mendelsohn M, Herman J. Core schemas and suicidality in a chronically traumatized population. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2008 Jan;196(1):71-4. doi: 10.1097/NMD.0b013e31815fa4c1.

Reference Type: RESULT

PMID: 18195645 (View on PubMed)

Lynch SM, Keasler AL, Reaves, RC, Channer EG, Bukowski LT. The Story of My Strength: An Exploration of Resilience in the Narratives of Trauma Survivors Early in Recovery. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma 14: 75-97, 2007 Publisher: Haworth Press

Reference Type: RESULT

Forman EM, Lynch SM, Bryant TS, Herman JL. Using effectiveness and patient-focused data to evaluate outcome of a community-based trauma treatment. Paper presented at the 17th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, New Orleans, LA, 2001.

Reference Type: RESULT

Mendelsohn M, Forman EM, Lynch SM, Herman JL. Group therapy at the Victims of Violence Program: Preliminary Findings. Paper presented at 20th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies; New Orleans, LA, 2004.

Reference Type: RESULT

Harney PA, Harvey MR. Group psychotherapy: An overview. In BH Young & DD Blake (Eds.), Group treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (pp. 1-13). New York, NY: Brunner/Mazel, 1999.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

Harvey MR. An ecological view of psychological trauma and trauma recovery. J Trauma Stress. 1996 Jan;9(1):3-23.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 8750448 (View on PubMed)

Harvey MR, Harney PA. Individual psychotherapy. In C Classen & ID Yalom (Eds.), Treating women molested in childhood (pp. 63-91). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1995.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

Harvey MR, Liang B, Harney PA, Koenen K, Tummala-Narra P, Lebowitz L. A multidimensional approach to the assessment of trauma impact, recovery and resiliency: Initial psychometric findings. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma, 6: 87-109, 2003.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

Harvey MR, Mishler EG, Koenen K, Harney PA. In the aftermath of sexual abuse: Making and remaking meaning in narratives of trauma and recovery. Narrative Inquiry, 10: 291-311, 2000.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

Harvey MR, Weston D. Multidimensional trauma recovery and resiliency measures: The MTRRI (Interview) and the MTRRQ (Sort). In BH Stamm (Ed.), Measurement of stress, trauma, and adaptation (pp. 209-211). Lutherville, MD: The Sidran Press, 1996.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

Herman, JL. Complex PTSD: A syndrome in survivors of prolonged and repeated trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 3: 377-391, 1992.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

Herman JL. Trauma and recovery. New York: Basic Books, 1992.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

Mendelsohn M, Zachary R, Harney P. Group therapy as an ecological bridge to a new community. Special issue of Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma, 14, 227-243.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

Lynch S, Forman E, Mendelsohn M, Herman, JL. A comparison of high and low dissociators' response to trauma-focused treatment. Paper presented at the 21st Conference of the International Society for the Study of Dissociation; New Orleans, LA; 2004.

Reference Type: RESULT

Other Identifiers

CHA-IRB-0031/01/04

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id