Objective: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent neuropsychiatric disorder in children and is associated with increased neurovascular inflammation, suicidality, adulthood mental health disorder, and major adverse events. Reminder focused positive psychiatry (RFPP) has been shown as well tolerated feasible trauma focused intervention that is associated with improved core PTSD symptoms, decreased severity of reactivity to PTSD trauma reminders, and increased vascular function. This study evaluates the clinical and biomolecular characteristics of RFPP in adolescents with PTSD. Research Design/Overall Impact: After obtaining parents' informed consent and adolescent's assent, 60 adolescents aged 11-15 years old with PTSD, and free of known medical and other major psychiatric disorders will be recruited from the pool of eligible adolescents at Olive View UCLA Pediatrics Clinics (\>3000 adolescents with PTSD). Eligible adolescents will be randomized to 1) RFPP group intervention, or 2) an attentional control condition (group process). Thirty subjects in each group will receive twice weekly telehealth intervention of either RFPP or group process, for 6 weeks, and undergo 4 blinded neuropsychiatric assessments at baseline, 3, 6, and 24 weeks. Parents will receive weekly interventions of either positive psychoeducation or group process, for 6 weeks and undergo baseline, 3, 6- and 24-weeks neuropsychiatric assessment. Vascular function, inflammatory biomarkers including CRP, homocysteine, and stress involved gene expression biomarkers (i.e. changes in gene expression of FKBP5, DDX6, B2M, LAIR1, RTN4, NUB1, and a multi-gene Conserved Transcriptional Response to Adversity score (CTRA) will be measured at baseline and 6-week. The primary and secondary endpoints are a) changes in PTSD core and reactivity to trauma reminder severity score in response to RFPP intervention, b) changes in wellbeing, biopsychosocial trait, vascular function, neuroinflammation and gene expression biomarkers in response to RFPP, and c) changes in parents' wellbeing and biopsychosocial trait as well as child-parent interactions.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE
Enrollment
60
The focus of RFPP is on enhancing contextual discrimination and emotional regulation, and promoting the use of adaptive coping strategies in response to trauma reminders, including recognizing reminders, shifting attention from intrusive memories during exposure to reminders to a focus on positive feelings, thoughts, goals, and choices
This group process will undergo telehealth relaxation therapy twice a week for 6-week. Subjects will receive progressive muscle relaxation and other relaxation techniques as well as education about PTSD and supportive psychotherapy
UCLA
Los Angeles, California, United States
RECRUITINGTo examine the impact of RFPP intervention on core PTSD symptoms
There will be a change in core PTSD symptoms (% ranged from 0-100) after 6-week RFPP intervention, compared to control group
Time frame: 24 months
To assess the impact of RFPP on well-being of adolescents with PTSD and their parents
There will be a change in well-being (% ranged from 0-100), posttraumatic growth (% ranged from 0-100), and parent-child interactions (% ranged from 0-100) in adolescents with PTSD who received RFPP, compared to control group
Time frame: 24 months
To examine the impact of RFPP on biologic biomarkers, compared to control group
There will be a change in vascular function ((% ranged from 0-100), stress involved gene expression (% ranged from 0-100), C reactive protein (CRP)(% ranged from 0-100) and homocysteine (% ranged from 0-100) in response to RFPP in adolescents with PTSD
Time frame: 24 months
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