An initial examination of couple therapy for PTSD outcomes among Black/African American Adults: Findings from an uncontrolled trial with military dyads

Fredman, S. J., Gamaldo, A. A., Jenkins, A. I. C., Le, Y., Mogle, J. A., Monson, C. M., Gamaldo, C. E., Thorpe, R. J., Jr., Hall-Clark, B. N., Blount, T. H., Fina, B. A., Buxton, O. M., Engeland, C. G., Rhoades, G. K., Stanley, S. M., Macdonald, A., Dondanville, K. A., Litz, B. T., Young-McCaughan, S., Taylor, D. J., Pruiksma, K. E., Yarvis, J. S., Keane, T. M., & Peterson, A. L., on behalf of the Consortium to Alleviate PTSD

Black/African American individuals experience high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is frequently chronic and undertreated in this population. Intimate relationships are a salient resource for Black/African American adults’ psychological well-being. To help advance health equity, this study serves as an initial, proof-of-concept investigation of patient outcomes among Black/African American adults who received a disorder-specific couple therapy for PTSD. Participants were a subsample of seven Black/African American adults (mean age = 40.56 years, SD = 10.18; 85.7% male) who participated in an uncontrolled trial of an abbreviated, intensive, multi-couple group version of cognitive-behavioral conjoint therapy for PTSD with 24 military dyads. Treatment was delivered over 2 days in a weekend retreat format. Assessments were administered at baseline, 1 month post-retreat, and 3 months post-retreat. There were large and significant decreases in patients’ PTSD symptoms based on clinicians’ and patients’ ratings (ds −1.37 and −1.36, respectively) by the 3-month follow-up relative to baseline. There were also large and significant decreases in patients’ depressive, anxiety, and anger symptoms (ds −1.39 to −1.93) and a large, marginally significant decrease in patients’ insomnia (d = −0.85; p = 0.083). Patients reported a medium, non-significant increase in relationship satisfaction (d = 0.68; p = 0.146) and a large, marginally significant increase in joint dyadic coping (d = 0.90; p = 0.069). Findings offer preliminary evidence that treating PTSD within a couple context is a relevant strategy to reduce PTSD and comorbid symptoms among partnered Black/African American adults and a promising approach to enhance relationships.