Caring for Vets and Service Members: Caring Contacts for Stressed and Distressed Veterans and Service Members

NCT ID: NCT06136234

Last Updated: 2025-09-17

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 521 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2024-04-30
• Study Completion Date: 2026-09-30

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to study stressed or distressed veterans and service members. Researchers will compare Caring Contacts plus best available resources to best available resources alone to see if reduces distress and prevents thoughts of suicide.

Detailed Description

The objective of this study is to evaluate whether Caring Contacts via text message are beneficial to veterans and service members experiencing stress or distress. In the past, Caring Contacts interventions have focused on individuals who are already suicidal and not a more general population. In addition, a core objective of this study is to understand the mechanisms of action of Caring Contacts and thus has included an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) component that will allow us to determine when and how Caring Contacts is making an impact.

Study aims are to

Evaluate if stressed or distressed veterans receiving Caring Contacts are at greater or less risk of suicidal ideation or behavior as evidenced by:

Decreased mean and reduction in variability of indicators of suicide risk (motivation to live, passive ideation, active ideation, suicide intent, and urges to harm self) acquired during Ecological Momentary Assessment periods.

Reduced risk of suicidal ideation (HASS-I) and cognitions (SCS-R) during follow-up.

Examine diverse veterans' experiences with Caring Contacts (i.e., access, satisfaction, preferences, potential mechanisms)

Evaluate if veterans receiving Caring Contacts will show a decrease in distress (i.e., isolation, depression, substance use, loneliness, defeat, hopelessness, and psychological pain)

Identify potential mechanisms of action for Caring Contacts by exploring the relationship between potential mechanisms (i.e., mattering, connectedness, social responsibility, and entrapment), distress, and suicide risk observed during ecological momentary assessment periods to identify potential mechanisms of action of Caring Contacts on decreasing distress and suicide risk

Conditions

Stress; Distress, Emotional

Study Design

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

Study Groups

Experimental Condition with intensive assessment

Caring Contacts plus best available resources, with monthly EMAs during study year

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Caring Contacts

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Caring Contacts are brief, periodic messages sent over 1 year that express unconditional care and concern

Best Available Resources Alone

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be offered information about best available resources and will receive an email summarizing the resources with links and contact information. These resources are tailored to best serve the participant based on information they share during the online survey or during conversations with study staff.

Control Condition with intensive assessment

Best available resources, with monthly EMAs during study year

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Best Available Resources Alone

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be offered information about best available resources and will receive an email summarizing the resources with links and contact information. These resources are tailored to best serve the participant based on information they share during the online survey or during conversations with study staff.

Experimental Condition without intensive assessment

Caring Contacts plus best available resources, without monthly EMAs during study year

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Caring Contacts

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Caring Contacts are brief, periodic messages sent over 1 year that express unconditional care and concern

Best Available Resources Alone

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be offered information about best available resources and will receive an email summarizing the resources with links and contact information. These resources are tailored to best serve the participant based on information they share during the online survey or during conversations with study staff.

Interventions

Caring Contacts

Caring Contacts are brief, periodic messages sent over 1 year that express unconditional care and concern

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Best Available Resources Alone

Participants will be offered information about best available resources and will receive an email summarizing the resources with links and contact information. These resources are tailored to best serve the participant based on information they share during the online survey or during conversations with study staff.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• US service member or veteran
• 18 years or older
• Lives in the United States
• Stressed (recent separation from or in transition out of the military, unemployment, financial strain, unhoused, or suicide loss, etc.) or distressed (isolation, depression, substance use, loneliness, defeat, hopelessness, psychological pain, or suicidal ideation, etc.)
• Willingness to be contacted periodically by text message and either email or postal mail

Exclusion Criteria

• Unable to consent due to inability to understand the consent form due to cognitive limitations or insufficient English (as determined by inability to pass the consent quiz items)

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

Sponsors

Face the Fight

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Washington

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Kate Comtois

Professor: School of Medicine

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Katherine A Comtois, PhD/MPH

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Washington

Locations

University of Washington

Seattle, Washington, United States

Countries

United States

References

Wright B, Evanson A, Casey C, Law KC, Rogers AH, Comtois KA. Exploring the Impact of the Caring Contacts Intervention on the Stress and Distress of Veterans and Service Members: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2025 Aug 13;14:e72140. doi: 10.2196/72140.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 40801426 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

STUDY00019011

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id