Bring your spouse: Brief multifamily group outcome for posttraumatic stress disorder.

Abstract

Objective: There has been little evidence supporting the efficacy of psychoeducation as a stand-alone approach to alleviate posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study examined the efficacy of a standalone psychoeducation PTSD intervention using a group format that incorporated the option of bringing an emotional support person to sessions. Method: PTSD 102 is an eight-session, 1-hr, weekly intervention for veterans and their family members. Pre-and posttreatment symptom measurement data were analyzed from 101 veteran men and women seeking outpatient treatment in a PTSD Clinical Team clinic at a Veteran Health care outpatient facility. Results: Paired-samples t tests were performed, which demonstrated a significant difference in the scores for pretreatment PTSD symptoms (M = 55.049, SD = 14.585) and posttreatment scores (M = 45.696, SD = 17.814); t(100) = 8.496, p , .001. The effect size was d = .843. Additionally, there was a significant difference in the scores for pretreatment depressive symptoms (M = 17.000, SD = 6.183) and posttreatment scores (M = 13.608, SD = 6.229); t(89) = 7.106, p , .001. The effect size was d = .749. Conclusions: Results from this study suggest that integrating emotional support individuals into a psychoeducational PTSD treatment group had a significant impact on mental health symptoms for veteran participants. Clinical Impact StatementThis study supports the efficacy of the PTSD 102 program, a psychoeducational, multicouple, eightsession group, in improving PTSD symptom status among veterans with PTSD and relationship concerns.