Bringing MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD to traditional healthcare systems: tending to set and setting.

Although effective evidence-based trauma-focused psychotherapies for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are available, a significant proportion of patients show a suboptimal response or do not complete them. MDMA-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) for PTSD is a promising intervention currently being evaluated in numerous studies worldwide, including investigation for potential Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in the United States. The concepts of set and setting are foundational in psychedelic therapy and refer to the mindset a person brings to therapy and the environment in which it takes place, respectively.

Discrepancies in perceptions of PTSD symptoms among veteran couples: Links to poorer relationship and individual functioning.

Veteran and intimate partner perceptions of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may differ, and little is known about how agreement or disagreement on symptom severity is related to relationship satisfaction. Veterans and their partners (N = 199 couples) completed a baseline assessment for a clinical trial evaluating two couple-based PTSD interventions. Veterans completed the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5).

Examining the impact of brief couples-based posttraumatic stress disorder treatments on anger and psychological aggression in veterans and their partners.

Anger can adversely impact functioning in veterans. Psychological aggression, which is related to but distinct from anger, is particularly detrimental to veterans' mental health. Research examining anger and psychological aggression following individual therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has demonstrated small effect sizes.

Design of a randomized clinical trial of brief couple therapy for PTSD augmented with intranasal oxytocin.

Background: Leveraging military veterans' intimate relationships during treatment has the potential to concurrently improve posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and relationship quality. Cognitive-Behavioral Conjoint Therapy (CBCT) and an 8-session Brief Cognitive-Behavioral Conjoint Therapy (bCBCT) are manualized treatments designed to simultaneously improve PTSD and relationship functioning for couples in which one partner has PTSD. Although efficacious in improving PTSD, the effects of CBCT on relationship satisfaction are small, especially among veterans.

Examining veterans' preferences for how to deliver couples-based treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder: Home-based telehealth or in-person?

Understanding the modality by which veterans prefer to receive couples-based posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment (i.e., home-based telehealth, in-person) may increase engagement in PTSD psychotherapy.

An examination of relationship satisfaction as a predictor of outcomes of brief couple therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder.

The pretreatment quality of intimate relationships can promote or interfere with couple therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment response. We tested whether baseline relationship satisfaction predicted clinical and process outcomes in two dyadic treatments for PTSD. Using data from a randomized trial comparing brief cognitive behavioral conjoint therapy (bCBCT) for PTSD to PTSD family education (PFE) among 137 military veterans and their partners (N = 274, M = 42.

A pilot of couple HOPES within the U.S. Veterans Affairs Healthcare System: PTSD and relationship outcomes in veteran couples.

Conjoint interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) offer an opportunity to target symptoms' broader social impact, including couples' relationship satisfaction. Technology-assisted interventions may help overcome access to care barriers for couples. Couple Helping Overcome PTSD and Enhance Satisfaction (HOPES) is a coached internet-based couples' intervention for PTSD adapted from cognitive behavioral conjoint therapy, an evidence-based dyadic therapy for PTSD.

Pilot test of intranasal oxytocin as an enhancer of brief couples therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) negatively impacts military veterans and their intimate partners. Cognitive-Behavioral Conjoint Therapy (CBCT) was developed to address both PTSD and relationship satisfaction among couples. Although efficacious in improving PTSD, the effects of CBCT and the 8-session brief CBCT (bCBCT) on relationship satisfaction among veteran patients with PTSD are modest.

Sexual Minority Women, Health Care Discrimination, and Poor Health Outcomes: A Mediation Model Through Delayed Care.

Sexual minority (SM) women are a heterogeneous group who commonly report negative health care experiences at the intersection of their diverse sexual orientations and racial/ethnic identities. However, scarce research has evaluated how negative health care experiences may affect health outcomes among this population. Informed by the Health Equity Promotion Model for SM health, this study evaluated mediation models in which delayed care mediated the association between provider discrimination and poor health outcomes in SM women.

Sexual Minority Women and Discriminatory Health Care Experiences: An Intersectional Evaluation Across Race and Ethnicity.

Objective: Health care discrimination contributes to medical mistrust among marginalized communities. Sexual minority women of color (SM-WOC) are marginalized because of the intersection of their sexual orientation, gender, and race/ethnicity and regularly report poor health care experiences at the intersection of these identities. However, research has yet to quantify differences in the prevalence of reported health care discrimination across SM women of various racial/ethnic backgrounds.

The role of veterans' PTSD symptoms in veteran couples' insomnia.

Insomnia contributes to individual mental and physical health and relationship well-being. Veterans' PTSD symptoms are associated with their own insomnia. However, research has not explored whether and how veterans' PTSD symptoms are associated with their partners' insomnia.

Longitudinal Associations Among Adolescents' Sexual Attitudes, Beliefs, and Behaviors.

Youth sex and relationship education programs aim to improve adolescent well-being by changing their knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes regarding sex and their health. However, there is a gap in existing research linking these cognitive targets to relevant behaviors, and a particular dearth of data on links with sexual behaviors. The current study tested longitudinal links between cognitive factors related to sex (attitudes about sex, normative beliefs, risk-avoidant intentions, and confidence in refusal skills) and outcomes of sexual behaviors (recent sexual encounters, number of sexual partners, and frequency of condom use).

Use of telemental health for VA family services before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Military veterans experiencing relationship or family difficulties are able to access family services (i.e., couple and family therapy) through the Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System.

A randomized trial of brief couple therapy for PTSD and relationship satisfaction.

Objective: This three-arm randomized trial tested a brief version of cognitive-behavioral conjoint therapy (bCBCT) delivered in two modalities compared to couples' psychoeducation in a sample of U.S. veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and their intimate partners.

Interpersonal trauma histories and relationship functioning among LGB Veteran couples seeking PTSD treatment.

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) Veterans report greater emotional distress, trauma exposure, and PTSD rates than both LGB civilians and non-LGB Veterans. Traumatic experiences impact intimate relationships, potentially placing LGB Veterans at higher risk of relationship dysfunction secondary to trauma and PTSD. However, limited research has examined links between relationship functioning and trauma histories among couples with one or more LGB-identifying partners.

Centering Asian American Women's Health: Prevalence of Health Care Discrimination and Associated Health Outcomes.

Asian American women routinely face multiple and intersectional forms of discrimination based on their marginalized social identities, including during their interactions within the US health care system. However, most research on discrimination against Asian American women is limited by its exclusive focus on race-, gender-, or language-based forms of discrimination; and research has yet to assess if their discriminatory health care experiences are associated with poor health outcomes. To address this gap, we centered the experiences of Asian American women (N = 905) from the Association of American Medical Colleges Biannual Consumer Survey of Health Care Access, a national survey of health care consumers conducted from 2011 to 2020.

VA family service access and utilization in a national sample of veterans.

Relationship and family difficulties are common experiences for military veterans, who are able to access family services (i.e., couple and family therapy) through the Veterans Affairs (VA) Healthcare System.

Genetic sensitivity predicts long-term psychological benefits of a relationship education program for married couples.

Objective: Relationship education programs have proven effective in promoting relationship quality and preventing divorce among married couples. However, according to theories of , people differ for genetic reasons in their sensitivity to environmental influences with some more affected by both negative and positive experiences, including psychological interventions.

Method: Here we test in two studies whether the positive effects of the established (PREP) are moderated by two different polygenic scores (PGS) for environmental sensitivity, one based on nine established candidate genes and one based on several thousand variants across the genome, derived from recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) results.

Adverse childhood experiences, mental health, and relationship satisfaction in military couples.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have been found to influence one's own mental health and relationship satisfaction in adulthood; however, the association between one's own ACEs and their partner's individual and relationship functioning has not been explored. Veterans ( = 103) and their significant others (S-O; total = 206) completed assessments on ACEs, depression, relationship satisfaction, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptom severity as part of a baseline assessment in a treatment outcome study for veterans with PTSD and their S-Os. Actor Partner Interdependence Moderation Modeling (APIMoM) was conducted.

Moderated mediation in relationship education: Communication, commitment, and sociodemographic disadvantage.

This study tested moderated mediation-that is, whether the mechanisms of program impacts are different for different groups of people-in the Supporting Healthy Marriage (SHM) study of relationship education (RE) programs for low-income married couples. Large-scale evaluations of RE programs have yielded small effects in community settings. Understanding program mechanisms specific to disadvantaged populations may help improve program impacts.

Impact and implementation findings from a cluster randomized trial of a youth relationship education curriculum.

The current study presents implementation and impact data from a cluster randomized trial of a youth relationship education curriculum. High school students (n = 1,135) were randomized at the school level to receive curricula-as-usual or a healthy relationships program delivered by facilitators who were not employed by the high schools. Program evaluators reported high engagement and students indicated high satisfaction with the program, but multilevel models showed no statistically significant impacts on healthy relationship skills, attitudes, and behaviors at three and nine months post-intervention.

Posttraumatic stress disorder and relationship functioning: Examining gender differences in treatment-seeking veteran couples.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are robustly associated with intimate relationship dysfunction among veterans, but most existing research has focused on male veterans and their female partners. Links between PTSD and relationship functioning may differ between female-veteran couples and male-veteran couples. The current study used actor-partner interdependence models (APIMs) to test the associations between PTSD symptoms (i.

We are not all the same: The importance of perceived difference in racial ideology and Afrocentricity for African American relationships.

A large body of existing research on African American relationships perpetuates a deficit model that assumes Eurocentric norms and emphasizes between-group differences (e.g., cross-racial comparisons with the majority group-European Americans).

Online relationship education for help-seeking low-income couples: A Bayesian replication and extension of the OurRelationship and ePREP programs.

Low-income couples are at increased risk for relationship instability and divorce. In response, online relationship education programs such as ePREP and OurRelationship have been developed to more easily reach this population. A previous trial indicated that these programs promote relationship functioning (Doss et al.