Evaluation of a Brief Marriage Intervention for Internal Behavioral Health Consultants in Military Primary Care

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Marriage

In brief

The psychological health of military members is a critical element of force health protection and readiness. Frequent deployments and high operations tempo at home strain the relationships and families of today's military more than ever before (e.g., Karney \& Crown, 2007). Since 2001 the likelihood of divorce in the Air Force increased with the number of days that Airmen were deployed (Karney \& Crown, 2007). Distressed relationships not only adversely affect members' adjustment and readiness (e.g., Hoge et al., 2006) but also are centrally implicated in suicides (i.e., relationship problems are the precipitating event in 51% of Air Force suicides, Kindt, 2009) and domestic violence (Pan, Neidig, \& O'Leary, 1994). Unfortunately, traditional sources of marriage counseling available to service members are largely underutilized. The MC brings a fresh perspective that helps normalize relationship help-seeking and in turn reach larger numbers of distressed couples early. The partnering of MC and integrated primary care appears to be an ideal combination of behavioral health innovations that has the potential to measurably enhance relationship health for the military services.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT02571478

Run by

Wright State University

People needed

488

Starts

2016-02-01

Expected to finish

2020-08-01

Last updated by the study team

2021-08-30

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Potential participants will be active duty and/or their active duty or Department of Defense (DoD) beneficiary spouses (adults >= 18 years old) who present to the IBHC in primary care with relationship concerns or questions following referral from their primary care manager or in response to study advertisements. Potential participants will be eligible for enrollment whether both partners are participating in-person or only one partner. Study participants do not have to be married; enrollment is open to active duty or who are not married but in committed romantic partnerships

You may not qualify if…

• Exclusion criteria will mirror clinical practice for patients normally not seen in primary care behavioral health, i.e., patients greater than mild risk for self-harm, patients with current alcohol dependence, psychotic disorder, significant dissociative disorder, or moderate or severe brain injury. Civilians along with potential participants that cannot understand, speak or read English will be excluded.

Where it is running

• Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — Fairborn, Ohio, United States
• Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center — San Antonio, Texas, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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