Secondary individual outcomes following multicouple group therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder: An uncontrolled pilot study with military dyads

Cognitive‐behavioral conjoint therapy (CBCT) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has demonstrated efficacy for improving PTSD and comorbid symptoms and relationship adjustment. To enhance treatment efficiency and scalability, we developed a 2‐day, abbreviated, intensive, multicouple group version of CBCT for PTSD (AIM‐CBCT for PTSD). Prior work demonstrated that AIM‐CBCT for PTSD wasassociated with reductions in PTSD and comorbid symptoms in a sample of 24 post‐9/11 active duty military or veteran couples who received the treatment in a retreat format over a single weekend. The current study investigated secondary outcomes regarding trauma‐related cognitions, psychosocial impairment, and insomnia. For trauma‐related cognitions, reductions were nonsignificant and small at 1‐month follow‐up, ds = −0.14 to −0.32. However, by 3‐month follow‐up, there were significant, medium effect size reductions in total trauma‐related cognitions, d = −0.68, and negative views of self and others, ds = −0.64 and −0.57, respectively, relative to baseline. There was also a nonsignificant, small‐to‐medium effect‐size reduction in self‐blame, d = −0.43, p = .053, by 3‐month follow‐up. For psychosocial impairment, there were significant and medium‐to‐large and large effect size reductions by 1‐ and 3‐month follow‐ups, ds = −0.73 and −0.81, respectively. There were nonsignificant, small effect size reductions in insomnia at both 1‐ and 3‐month follow‐ups relative to baseline, ds = −0.30 and −0.34, respectively. These findings suggest that AIM‐CBCT for PTSD is associated with reductions in maladaptive posttraumatic cognitions and psychosocial impairment but that adjunctive interventions may be needed to address insomnia.