The incorporation of emotion-regulation skills into couple- and family-based treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disabling, potentially chronic disorder that is characterized by re-experience and hyperarousal symptoms as well as the avoidance of trauma-related stimuli. The distress experienced by many veterans of the Vietnam War and their partners prompted a strong interest in developing conjoint interventions that could both alleviate the core symptoms of PTSD and strengthen family bonds. We review the evolution of and evidence base for conjoint PTSD treatments from the Vietnam era through the post-911 era. Our review is particularly focused on the use of treatment strategies that are designed to address the emotions that are generated by the core symptoms of the disorder to reduce their adverse impact on veterans, their partners and the relationship. We present a rationale and evidence to support the direct incorporation of emotion-regulation skills training into conjoint interventions for PTSD. We begin by reviewing emerging evidence suggesting that high levels of emotion dysregulation are characteristic of and predict the severity of both PTSD symptoms and the level of interpersonal/marital difficulties reported by veterans with PTSD and their family members. In doing so, we present a compelling rationale for the inclusion of formal skills training in emotional regulation in couple-/family-based PTSD treatments. We further argue that increased exposure to trauma-related memories and emotions in treatments based on learning theory requires veterans and their partners to learn to manage the uncomfortable emotions that they previously avoided. Conjoint treatments that were developed in the last 30 years all acknowledge the importance of emotions in PTSD but vary widely in their relative emphasis on helping participants to acquire strategies to modulate them compared to other therapeutic tasks such as learning about the disorder or disclosing the trauma to a loved one. We conclude our review by describing two recent innovative treatments for PTSD that incorporate a special emphasis on emotion-regulation skills training in the dyadic context: structured approach therapy (SAT) and multi-family group for military couples (MFG-MC). Although the incorporation of emotion-regulation skills into conjoint PTSD therapies appears promising, replication and comparison to cognitive-behavioral approaches is needed to refine our understanding of which symptoms and veterans might be more responsive to one approach versus others.

Perspectives of veterans with mild traumatic brain injury on community reintegration: Making sense of unplanned separation from service.

For veterans separated from the military as a result of acquired mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), the transition from a military identity to a civilian one is complicated by health, cognitive, and psychosocial factors. We conducted in-depth interviews with 8 veterans with mTBI to understand how they perceived the experience of departure from the military, rehabilitation services provided at a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Polytrauma Network Site, and reentry into civilian life. Two distinct patterns of thinking about community reintegration emerged. The first pattern was characterized by the perception of a need to fade one's military identity. The second pattern, conversely, advanced the perception of a need to maintain the integrity of one's military identity though living in a civilian world. These perceptions may be linked to individuals' roles while in the military and whether violent acts were committed in carrying out the mission of service, acts not consonant with positive self-appraisal in the civilian world. The crisis of unplanned, involuntary separation from the military was universally perceived as a crisis equal to that of the precipitating injury itself. The perception that civilians lacked understanding of veterans' military past and their current transition set up expectations for interactions with health care providers, as well as greatly impacting relationships with friend and family. Our veterans' shared perceptions support existing mandates for greater dissemination of military culture training to health care providers serving veterans both at VA and military facilities as well as in the civilian community at large. (PsycINFO Database Record

Dynamic motor tracking is sensitive to subacute mTBI.

Effective screening for mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is critical to accurate diagnosis, intervention, and improving outcomes. However, detecting mTBI using conventional clinical techniques is difficult, time intensive, and subject to observer bias. We examine the use of a simple visuomotor tracking task as a screening tool for mTBI. Thirty participants, 16 with clinically diagnosed mTBI (mean time since injury: 36.4 ± 20.9 days (95 % confidence interval); median = 20 days) were asked to squeeze a hand dynamometer and vary their grip force to match a visual, variable target force for 3 min. We found that controls outperformed individuals with mTBI; participants with mTBI moved with increased variability, as quantified by the standard deviation of the tracking error. We modeled participants' feedback response-how participants changed their grip force in response to errors in position and velocity-and used model parameters to classify mTBI with a sensitivity of 87 % and a specificity of 93 %, higher than several standard clinical scales. Our findings suggest that visuomotor tracking could be an effective supplement to conventional assessment tools to screen for mTBI and track mTBI symptoms during recovery.

Executive functioning in TBI from rehabilitation to social reintegration: COMPASS (goal,) a randomized controlled trial (grant: 1I01RX000637-01A3 by the VA ORD RR&D, 2013-2016).

BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury is a major health problem that frequently leads to deficits in executive function. Self-regulation processes, such as goal-setting, may become disordered after traumatic brain injury, particularly when the frontal regions of the brain and their connections are involved. Such impairments reduce injured veterans' ability to return to work or school and to regain satisfactory personal lives. Understanding the neurologically disabling effects of brain injury on executive function is necessary for both the accurate diagnosis of impairment and the individual tailoring of rehabilitation processes to help returning service members recover independent function. METHODS/DESIGN: The COMPASS(goal) (Community Participation through Self-Efficacy Skills Development) program develops and tests a novel patient-centered intervention framework for community re-integration psychosocial research in veterans with mild traumatic brain injury. COMPASS(goal) integrates the principles and best practices of goal self-management. Goal setting is a core skill in self-management training by which persons with chronic health conditions learn to improve their status and decrease symptom effects. Over a three-year period, COMPASS(goal) will recruit 110 participants with residual executive dysfunction three months or more post-injury. Inclusion criteria combine both clinical diagnosis and standardized scores that are >1 SD from the normative score on the Frontal Systems Rating Scale. Participants are randomized into two groups: goal-management (intervention) and supported discharge (control). The intervention is administered in eight consecutive, weekly sessions. Assessments occur at enrollment, post-intervention/supported discharge, and three months post-treatment follow-up. DISCUSSION: Goal management is part of the "natural language" of rehabilitation. However, collaborative goal-setting between clinicians/case managers and clients can be hindered by the cognitive deficits that follow brain injury. Re-training returning veterans with brain injury in goal management, with appropriate help and support, would essentially treat deficits in executive function. A structured approach to goal self-management may foster greater independence and self-efficacy, help veterans gain insight into goals that are realistic for them at a given time, and help clinicians and veterans to work more effectively as true collaborators.

A pilot study of a culturally targeted video intervention to increase participation of African American patients in cancer clinical trials.

PURPOSE: Barriers to clinical trial participation among African American cancer patients are well characterized in the literature. Attitudinal barriers encompassing fear, distrust, and concerns about ethical misconduct are also well documented. To increase trial accrual, these attitudes must be adequately addressed, yet there remains a lack of targeted interventions toward this end. We developed a 15-minute culturally targeted video designed to impact six specific attitudes of African American cancer patients toward therapeutic trials. We conducted a pilot study to test in the first such intervention to increase intention to enroll. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The primary study outcome was self-reported likelihood to participate in a therapeutic trial. Using a mixed methods approach, we developed the Attitudes and Intention to Enroll in Therapeutic Clinical Trials (AIET) instrument, a 30-item questionnaire measuring six attitudinal barriers to African American trial participation. We enrolled 108 eligible active treatment patients at a large urban cancer institute. McNemar's test for matched pairs was used to assess changes in attitudes and likelihood to enroll in a clinical trial at baseline and immediately after the video. Pre- and post-video AIET summative scores were analyzed by paired t-test for each attitudinal barrier. RESULTS: Patients' likelihood of enrolling in a clinical trial significantly increased post-video with 36% of the sample showing positive changes in intention [McNemar's χ(2) = 33.39, p < .001]. Paired t-tests showed significant changes in all six attitudinal barriers measured via AIET summative scores from pre- to post-video. CONCLUSION: These data suggest utility of our video for increasing African American participation in clinical trials.

Intensive electrical stimulation attenuates femoral bone loss in acute spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether intensive electrical stimulation (ES) can reduce femoral bone mineral density (BMD) loss in acute spinal cord injury (SCI). DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Inpatient rehabilitation hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-six subjects with C4 to T12 American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale A or B SCI less than 12 weeks postinjury. METHODS: The control group received usual rehabilitative care and the intervention group received usual care plus 1 hour of ES over the quadriceps 5 days per week for 6 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Outcome measurements were collected at baseline, postintervention (interim), and 3 months postinjury (follow-up), and included dual energy x-ray absorptiometry, serum osteocalcin (OC), and urinary N-telopeptide (NTx). RESULTS: In the control group, there was increasing BMD loss with distance from the spine (lumbar -1.88%, hip -12.25%, distal femur -15.15%, proximal tibia -17.40%). This trend was attenuated over the distal femur in the ES group (lumbar -1.29%, hip -14.45%, distal femur -7.40%, proximal tibia -12.31%). NTx increased over the 3 assessments in controls ([mean ± standard deviation] 115.00 ± 34.10, 154.86 ± 70.41, and 171.33 ± 75.8 nmol/mmol creatinine) compared with the ES group (160.56 ± 140.06, 216.71 ± 128.40, and 154.67 ± 69.12 nmol/mmol creatinine)-all of which were elevated compared with the reference range, and the differences between the 2 groups were not significant. Osteocalcin levels markedly decreased in the control group (12.90 ± 7.30, 24.00 ± 4.29, and 6.40 ± 7.28 µg/L) to subnormal levels, and remained stable and in the normal range in the ES group (13.80 ± 7.64, 11.86 ± 6.77, and 14.80 ± 12.91 µg/L), although differences between the groups were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Lower extremity BMD loss increases with distance from the spine. An intensive lower extremity ES program may attenuate BMD loss locally after acute motor complete SCI, although it is unknown whether these benefits are maintained in the long term.