Teens Coping With Parental Military Deployment

NCT ID: NCT01128777

Last Updated: 2013-07-04

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: TERMINATED
• Clinical Phase: PHASE1
• Total Enrollment: 6 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2011-01-31
• Study Completion Date: 2012-04-30

Brief Summary

The total number of military personnel is over 3.5 million and approximately 43% have children. The deployment cycle can be associated with depression, anxiety, and behavior problems in children as well as psychological distress in the military spouse. Further, the health of family members can affect the physical and psychological functioning of the military service member during the deployment and re-integration periods. While research and federal funding has been dedicated toward developing treatments for the returning service member, intervention protocols for mental health problems in the children of military families have not been tested. In collaboration with the Family Readiness Program of the Rhode Island National Guard & Reserves, the purpose of this proposal is to develop a cognitive behavioral treatment protocol for adolescents experiencing depression, anxiety, and/or behavior problems associated with the deployment and re-integration phases of the military deployment cycle. This protocol will be created by modifying an NIH funded cognitive behavioral protocol for the treatment of adolescent mental health problems with initial demonstrated efficacy (PI, C. Esposito-Smythers). There are three primary aims in this project: 1) develop the manualized intervention protocol for adolescents experiencing mental health problems associated with the deployment cycle; 2) refine and pilot the intervention protocol with 12 families; and 3) test the intervention in a randomized pilot trial. To accomplish these aims, a two step sequence of treatment development is proposed. Stage Ia includes initial manual development, focus groups, therapist training, and an open pilot trial. Stage Ib includes a randomized pilot trial. Seventy-two adolescents and their caretakers will be enrolled through the Rhode Island Family Readiness program and randomly assigned to the experimental intervention or non-directive supportive therapy for their outpatient care. The experimental intervention includes 12 adolescent group sessions which address depression, anxiety, and behavior problems associated with the deployment cycle and 12 parent group sessions that address stress management and parenting skills. The non-directive supportive therapy condition includes 12 adolescent and 12 parent group sessions which involve patient initiated discussions focused on issues surrounding military deployment and re-integration. Outcome will be assessed at post-treatment and 3 month follow-up. The long term objective of this research is to yield an effective outpatient intervention for teens of military service members experiencing mental health problems associated with the deployment and re-integration phases of the deployment cycle.

Conditions

Emotional Distress; Behavior Problems

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Cognitive behavioral group therapy

Cognitive behavioral group therapy for adolescents and a parallel group for parents

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The CBT group therapy protocol will teach adolescents coping, cognitive restructuring, and affect regulation skills to remediate skills deficits that underlie depression, anxiety, and behavior problems associated with the deployment cycle. Parents will also learn stress management and parenting skills in their own group therapy sessions that occur as the same time as the adolescent group.

Nondirective supportive group therapy

Nondirective supportive group therapy for adolescents and a parallel group for parents

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Nondirective supportive group therapy

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Patient initiated discussions form the basis for the intervention for both the adolescent group and the parent group

Interventions

Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy

The CBT group therapy protocol will teach adolescents coping, cognitive restructuring, and affect regulation skills to remediate skills deficits that underlie depression, anxiety, and behavior problems associated with the deployment cycle. Parents will also learn stress management and parenting skills in their own group therapy sessions that occur as the same time as the adolescent group.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Nondirective supportive group therapy

Patient initiated discussions form the basis for the intervention for both the adolescent group and the parent group

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

Adolescents must: 1) be 13-17 years old; 2) be English speaking; 3) provide adolescent assent; 4) have parental consent and a parent/legal guardian available to participate in the intervention protocol; 5) have a parent who is deployed or returned from a deployment within the last year; and 6) report current sub-clinical or clinical levels of depression, anxiety, or oppositional behavior. In order to meet the symptom criterion, adolescents must receive a T score of ≥ 65 on the affective problems, anxiety problems, and/or oppositional defiant problems on the Youth Self-Report or the Child Behavior Checklist.

Exclusion Criteria

Adolescents who : 1) are developmentally delayed such that the intervention materials will not be appropriate; 2) are actively suicidal or psychotic at intake; 3) are receiving pharmacotherapy or psychotherapy in the community for depression, anxiety, or disruptive behavior which are the primary targets of this intervention; or 4) meet current criteria for a DSM-IV diagnosis of bipolar disorder, conduct disorder, substance dependence, or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

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• Minimum Eligible Age: 13 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 17 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Brown University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Anthony Spirito

Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Anthony Spirito, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Brown University

Locations

Brown Univerity

Providence, Rhode Island, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

R34MH082164

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

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R34MH082164

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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