Spouse READI (Resilience Education And Deployment Information) Post Deployment Telephone Support Groups

Memphis VA Medical Center228 enrolled

Overview

This 12-month study is for spouses or significant others of service members who have returned from Afghanistan or Iraq. This study will determine if participating in a telephone discussion group, offering education, skills building, and support, will help increase post-deployment adjustment. There will be 225 spouses recruited for this study.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

228

Conditions

Spouses Military Personnel Coping Skills

Interventions

Telephone Discussion GroupsBEHAVIORAL

Each telephone discussion group will meet 12 times during six months. The one-hour calls will be semi-structured conference calls with education, training in coping skills and cognitive restructuring, and support. A Participant Workbook will include comprehensive materials for all sessions and topics, other resources, and red flag resources - areas that may exacerbate problems, add a level of difficulty or distress, and/or indicate a need for referrals (e.g., unsafe behaviors, substance abuse, spouse abuse, PTSD, depression, traumatic brain injury).

Education sessionsBEHAVIORAL

Participants will have 12 sessions (delivered using slides and telephone) that cover the same education content, without skills building or support, over six months. They will also receive the Participant Workbook.

Eligibility

Sex: FEMALE

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: 1. have a spouse who participated in a deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan and is at least 1 month post-deployment 2. if not married, must have lived as married for at least one year 3. must be committed to the relationship 4. have a telephone. Exclusion Criteria: 1. known deployment of spouse in the next six months 2. auditory impairment that would make telephone use difficult.

Locations (1)

Memphis VA Medical Center

Memphis, Tennessee, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Spouse Self-report of Anxiety

Anxiety symptoms from the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale, measured from 0-21, higher scores indicate greater anxiety

Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, and 12 months

Spouse Self-report of Depression

Depression symptoms as measured on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), measured from 0-27, with higher numbers indicating more depression

Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, and 12 months

Spouse Self-report of Resilience

Resilience as measured on the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, measured from 0-100; higher scores show greater resilience

Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, and 12 months

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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