The VA wants to understand what type of integrative and whole health approaches are helpful for Veterans. The study is comparing two primary care based mental health treatments, a mindfulness class that teaches mindfulness meditation and a problem-solving class that teaches problem-solving skills and how to build resilience, for Veterans who are experiencing symptoms of anxiety, depression, and/or PTSD. The goal of the study is to understand if the classes reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and/or PTSD and increase overall functioning.
This study seeks to further test the effectiveness of Primary Care Brief Mindfulness Training (PCBMT) across multiple geographically distinct VHA primary care settings that serve diverse Veteran populations and begin to understand important implementation factors with a hybrid type I randomized controlled trial in 300 primary care patients with psychological distress. The study aims include comparing PCBMT to a transdiagnostic problem solving group (Moving Forward, MF) on clinical outcomes, testing mediators and moderators of treatment gain in PCBMT and MF, and assessing implementation barriers and facilitators to inform future implementation efforts. The investigators hypothesize that Veterans randomized to PCBMT will experience larger decreases in psychological distress than participants randomized to MF and changes in transdiagnostic processes will mediate the relationship between changes in mindfulness and psychological distress.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
300
PCBMT is a manualized intervention that is a brief adaptation of MBSR Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). It was developed by Dr. Scott Treatman and Dr. Dessa Bergen-Cico (Co-I). PCBMT consists of four 90-minute classes (360 total minutes of classes). Instruction encompasses sitting meditation, body scan, moving meditation, gentle yoga, and group discussion on topics such as non-judging, patience, trust, non-striving, acceptance, and letting go. In-class meditations are followed by a group process of the experience. At-home practice between sessions is encouraged and is guided by simple checklists asking students to check the meditation they practiced and write a few comments about what the experience was like.
Moving Forward (MF) is a transdiagnostic class that seeks to build resilience and reduce emotional distress by teaching step-by-step problem-solving skills such as "stop, slow down, think and act". The format that will be used as the comparison is manualized, group-delivered, primary care-based, often co-delivered by MH providers and peers, and considered a usual care practice in many VHA PCMHI programs. MF content is derived from problem solving therapy, which has clear effectiveness in reducing depression and other types of psychological distress. While the MF manual consists of four 60-minutes classes, for this study the 4 classes will be 90-minutes long to equate the length of both conditions. No new content will be added rather the additional time will be used to allow Veterans to complete worksheets in class and allow more group discussion.
Phoenix VA Health Care System, Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix, Arizona, United States
RECRUITINGVA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA
San Diego, California, United States
RECRUITINGSt. Louis VA Medical Center John Cochran Division, St. Louis, MO
St Louis, Missouri, United States
RECRUITINGSyracuse VA Medical Center, Syracuse, NY
Syracuse, New York, United States
ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITINGDepression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) Change
The Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) is a widely used measurement for psychological symptoms and distress. It consists of 21 items measured on a 4-point scale. The three subscale scores for depression, anxiety, and stress are also valid measures of their constructs and will be used as secondary outcomes. Depression subscale range: 0-42 with higher scores meaning a worse outcome. Anxiety subscale range: 0-42 with higher scores meaning a worse outcome. Stress subscale range 0-21 with higher scores indicative of greater symptom severity.
Time frame: Up to 24 weeks: Baseline, 8 weeks, 16 weeks, 24 weeks
Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS)
Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) is a 5-item scale measuring global judgements of life satisfaction. The possible range of scores is 5-35, with a score of 20 representing a neutral point on the scale. Scores between 5-9 indicate the respondent is extremely dissatisfied with life, whereas scores between 31-35 indicate the respondent is extremely satisfied.
Time frame: Up to 24 weeks: Baseline, 8 weeks, 16 weeks, 24 weeks
PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5)
The PCL-5 is a 20-item self-report measure that assesses the 20 DSM-5 symptoms of PTSD. PTSD Checklist-5 scale range 0-63 with 63 indicating highest PTSD severity.
Time frame: Up to 24 weeks: Baseline, 8 weeks, 16 weeks, 24 weeks
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