View clinical trials related to Stress Disorders, Traumatic.
Filter by:PTSD affects a wide variety of symptoms, some of which have been shown to disrupt family relationships. This study will examine some of the effects on parenting, from the perspective of the parent with PTSD.
This study plans to examine if symptoms of PTSD affect how Veterans who have served in combat think and react to certain information, and whether or not this has an influence on suicidal thoughts.
This is an observational study designed to determine whether veterans with PTSD have a higher risk of heart disease than those without PTSD. Cardiovascular risk will be assessed by interview and review of medical records, carotid artery ultrasound, and blood tests measuring markers of inflammation. Study participation is approximately 6 months. The eligible study population is veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), age 28 through 38 years.
This effectiveness study is being conducted to determine whether Trauma-Focused Cognitive Therapy (TF-CBT), a treatment model developed in specialty clinics by experts in the treatment of child sexual abuse, can be effectively transported to a state-contracted community mental health agency in the state of Delaware and used effectively by clinicians with little prior TF-CBT experience. The sample is comprised of youths receiving public mental health services and with diverse trauma histories.
The purpose of this pilot study is to determine the effects of computer-based training in executive functioning compared to word games on cognitive and emotional aspects of combat-related PTSD.
Background: Common mental illness, such as anxiety disorders and depression, is the main cause for sick leave in Sweden. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) has been shown to be effective in alleviating target symptoms of these disorders, but its effect on sick leave rates has not been sufficiently addressed. The investigators have developed an intervention called return to work (RTW), which is based in cognitive behavioral theory, that has a primary aim of helping sick-listed patients with common mental illness return to work. This new treatment has not been evaluated in a randomized controlled trial. Aims: The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of CBT and RTW for common mental illness in a randomized controlled trial conducted in primary care. Participants will be randomized to diagnosis specific CBT (n=70), RTW (n=70), or a combination of the two treatments (n=70). Main outcomes are days of sick leave and clinician severity rating of psychiatric symptoms. This study could contribute to new knowledge regarding how to best treat patients on sick leave with common mental illness.
This study looks at the biological effect of domestic violence and abuse (DVA) on women's mental health. The mechanisms through which DVA causes mental disorders are very poorly understood. Similar to other demands, DVA activates the biological stress system, of which the chief component is the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which produces chemical cortisol. Cortisol levels increase in response to short-term demand and help organisms deal with it by changing the processes of getting energy from food and also mental function. However constant activation of the HPA axis can cause damage and accelerate disease. This study tests the hypothesis that compared to non-abused women all abuse victims have altered diurnal rhythm in cortisol secretion and that the pattern of this alteration is predicted by abuse characteristics, such as its type, severity, duration, and cessation. To examine the hypothesis the following research questions will be addressed: 1) whether cortisol levels are related to mental health state; 2) whether cortisol levels are related to type, severity, duration and cessation of DVA; 3) whether there is any difference in cortisol concentrations between those women exposed to both childhood abuse and DVA and those who have experienced only the latter; 4) whether cortisol levels vary between women, living in refuge and those not living in refuge? To answer these research questions 214 women will be recruited in a domestic violence agency. Baseline and 3-monthly follow-up measures will be taken over 6 months after recruitment. Women will be asked to fill in a questionnaire to evaluate their demographics, health, experience of childhood abuse and DVA. Women's weight and height will be taken. In addition participants will be asked to take three saliva samples: 1st in the evening in bed, 2nd - next morning immediately upon awakening, and the 3rd - in thirty minutes after awakening. Saliva will be collected by chewing (for 2 minutes) the cotton pledget provided with plastic tube and returned by post or via collection by the researcher. Then the saliva samples will be tested for cortisol and cortisone. Results of the study will increase our understanding of the biological mechanisms of DVA impact on a woman's health and tell researchers and practitioners about the possibility of using cortisol as an indicator to diagnose abuse-related health problems and assess effectiveness of medical care for abuse survivors.
The aim of this project is to create fear conditioning paradigm within which the relative strengths of various novel pharmacological and behavioral interventions can be tested. These interventions are intended to reduce the fearfulness associated with fear conditioning by blocking a memory process known as reconsolidation. In fear conditioning, a "conditioned" stimulus (CS) is paired with an aversive "unconditioned" stimulus (US) such as an electric shock, until presentation of the CS alone comes to elicit a fear conditioned response (CR). The investigators hypothesize that by using a more highly prepared CS (i.e. video of spiders); more sensitive subjects (individuals with stronger acquired CRs); and additional experimental probes for the presence of the latent CR, the investigators may develop a normal human paradigm that is not plagued by previously observed floor effects (i.e. intervention is 100% effective), within which both the established techniques of propranolol and delayed extinction will produce significant, but only partial, CR reduction. This would leave room to test and compare potentially more powerful candidate reconsolidation-blocking or memory-updating interventions. To achieve these aims, subjects will undergo a four-day fear conditioning and delayed extinction protocol. Skin conductance response data will be gathered across the different phases of the experiment.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), is a devastating condition which causes distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important aspects of functioning. The occurrence of PTSD in the military is on the rise. This has significantly impacted military members, their families, and society as a whole. According to an expert panel convened by the Institute of Medicine in 2007, the effectiveness of most currently employed PTSD therapies is low. Safe and effective treatments are urgently needed. The specific aim of this investigation is to evaluate the effectiveness of a novel approach to relieve PTSD symptoms, utilizing a procedure commonly used in pain management, a Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) with local anesthesia. Male soldiers experiencing moderate to severe symptoms of PTSD will be recruited for evaluation of Stellate Ganglion Block with local anesthesia as an intervention for PTSD treatment. Participants will be randomized to receive either the SGB with local anesthesia to C6 tubercle or a sham procedure involving a subcutaneous saline injection to the neck. The PTSD symptoms before and after the procedure will be measured using a comprehensive clinician-administered scale, self-report measures, objective measures of cognitive ability, and physiologic reactivity measures. Subjects will undergo assessment prior to the procedure, one week following the procedure, one month and 3 months following the procedure. Patients receiving sham injections will be allowed to cross over to the treatment group. Based on published case reports of Lipov et al in Chicago and Mulvaney et al from Walter Reed Medical Center, who utilized this technique to successfully treat soldiers with combat-related PTSD, we predict that the use of Stellate Ganglion Block will result in reduction of PTSD symptoms as measured by clinician-administered scales, self-report measures, objective measures of cognitive ability, and physiologic reactivity measures, leading to a significant and lasting reduction of PTSD symptoms.
The aim of our study is to determine the feasibility of carrying out a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to investigate whether screening parents of children admitted to pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) so as to target follow-up at those most at risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is effective at reducing adverse psychological sequelae.