Peer Delivered, Emotion Regulation-Focused Mental Health Prevention Training for Fire Fighter Trainees (PEER UP)

Baylor Scott and White Health (BSWH)

Status: Invitation-only

Conditions: PTSD; Depression; Anxiety; Alcohol Use Disorder

Treatments: Behavioral: Brief Unified Protocol; Behavioral: Psychoeducation

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06290778

Baylor IRB #023-445

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this clinical trial is to determine if a peer-delivered emotion regulation training (Brief-Unified Protocol) workshop is effective for preventing posttraumatic stress and other psychological health symptoms in firefighter trainees. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Do firefighter recruits who receive peer-delivered Brief-Unified Protocol report lower PTSD symptom severity over time compared to those who receive psychoeducation?
• Do firefighter recruits who receive peer-delivered Brief-Unified Protocol report lower AUD, depression, anxiety, and functional impairment symptom severity over time compared to those who receive psychoeducation?
• Do changes in neuroticism or emotion regulation mediate the effect of receiving the Brief-Unified Protocol on the treatment outcomes?

Participants will:

• Participate in a Brief-Unified Protocol workshop or psychoeducation workshop during fire academy training.
• Complete a questionnaire prior to the workshop.
• Complete a questionnaire immediately following the workshop and follow up questionnaires at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after completing the fire academy.

Researchers will compare firefighters who receive a peer-delivered Brief-Unified Protocol workshop to firefighters who receive peer-delivered psychoeducation to see if the Brief-Unified Protocol is effective for preventing posttraumatic stress and other psychological health symptoms.

Enrollment: 480 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 21+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 21 years of age or older
• English speaking
• Able to sign an informed consent form
• Able to complete the self-report assessment
• Willing to be contacted to complete post and follow-up assessments

Exclusion criteria

• Pregnant
• Have plans to relocate within two months of protocol initiation
• Report psychotic symptoms or suicidal behavior within the past 2 weeks
• Are currently dependent on substances other than tobacco or caffeine

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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480 participants in 2 patient groups

Brief Unified Protocol

Experimental group

Description:

This workshop includes education regarding basic human emotions, why we have emotions, how they help us, how they can get in the way, and how they are related to psychological health problems, including among firefighters. Skills that are helpful in managing strong or unwanted emotions will be taught and practiced during the workshop. A workshop manual will be provided. Brief videos summarizing the material will be emailed over the course of the month following the workshop.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Brief Unified Protocol

Psychoeducation

Active Comparator group

Description:

This workshop provides education regarding signs and symptoms of psychological health challenges that are most commonly experienced by firefighters. These include posttraumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and alcohol and substance misuse. This workshop is a standard part of fire academy training. A workshop manual will be provided. Brief videos summarizing the material will be emailed over the course of the month following the workshop.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Psychoeducation