Prolonged Exposure Therapy to Treat Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Pregnant Patients

University of Vermont

Status

Not yet enrolling

Conditions

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Pregnancy

Treatments

Behavioral: Prolonged exposure therapy + incentives for therapy session attendance

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT06670079

UVM CHRMS STUDY00002930

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a treatment for adults with PTSD called prolonged exposure + incentives (PE+) works to treat pregnant patients. The main question it aims to answer is:

Does PE+ decrease PTSD symptoms?

All participants will receive PE+ to see if their PTSD symptoms at the end of the trial are less than at the beginning.

Participants will:

Receive individual PE+ therapy for 1 hour weekly for 12 weeks.
Receive financial incentives for attending each PE+ session.
Attend assessment visits every 4 weeks for the 12 weeks of the trial.
Allow research staff to collect some information about their labor and delivery from their medical records after their babies are born.

Enrollment

30 estimated patients

Sex

Female

Ages

18+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Female
>18 years old
Gestational age ≤ 25 weeks
Meet current DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder criteria based on the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5
Participants receiving psychotropic medications must be maintained on a stable dose for >14 days prior to enrollment.

Exclusion criteria

Male
Under 18 years old
Gestational age > 25 weeks
No current diagnosis of PTSD
Current delusions or hallucinations, unstable bipolar disorder, imminent risk for suicide as assessed by the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview
Enrolled in another ongoing evidence-based treatment for PTSD.