N/A
N=304
Comparing Individual Therapies for Veterans With Depression, PTSD, and Panic Disorder
Major Depressive Disorder · Posttraumatic Stress Disorder · Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia
Bottom Line
View on ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04293341 ↗Enrolled (actual)
304
Serious AEs
1.0%
Results posted
Nov 2025
Primary outcome: Primary: PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) — 48.0; 46.37; 42.44; 36.95 score on a scale
Study Design & Population
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- N/A
- Interventions
- Transdiagnostic Behavior Therapy (Behavioral); Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD (Behavioral); Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for MDD (Behavioral); Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Panic Disorder (Behavioral)
- Age
- Adult, Older Adult · 18+ yrs
- Sex
- All
- Sponsor
- VA Office of Research and Development
- Primary completion
- Jan 2025
Outcome Measures
| Outcome | Result | p-value |
|---|---|---|
| PRIMARY PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) |
48.0; 46.37; 42.44; 36.95; 35.00; 27.36 | — |
| PRIMARY Patient Health Questionnaire - 9 (PHQ-9) |
17.29; 16.28; 13.49; 12.87; 11.44; 10.32 | — |
| PRIMARY Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS) |
13.40; 12.59; 11.53; 11.25; 9.86; 6.98 | — |
Summary
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a brief, efficient, and effective treatment for individuals with depressive/anxiety disorders. However, CBT is largely underutilized within the Department of Veterans Affairs due to the cost and burden of trainings necessary to deliver all of the related disorder-specific treatments (DSTs). Transdiagnostic Behavior Therapy (TBT), in contrast, is specifically designed to address numerous distinct disorders within a single protocol in Veterans with depressive/anxiety disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder. The proposed research seeks to evaluate the efficacy of TBT by assessing psychiatric symptomatology and related impairment outcomes in Veterans with depressive/anxiety disorders via a randomized controlled trial of TBT and existing DSTs in Veterans with major depressive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and panic disorder. Assessments will be completed at pre-, mid-, and post-treatment, and at 6-month follow-up. Process variables also will be investigated.
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- Participants must be Veterans
- Participants must be clearly competent to provide informed consent for research participation
- Participants must meet DSM-5 criteria for panic disorder, major depressive disorder, or posttraumatic stress disorder
- Participants must be 18-80 years old
Exclusion Criteria
- recent history (< 2 months) of psychiatric hospitalization or a suicide attempt as documented in their medical record or reported during clinical interview
- acute, severe illness or medical condition that likely will require hospitalization and/or otherwise interfere with study procedures as documented in their medical record (e.g., active chemotherapy/radiation treatment for cancer),
- recent start of new psychiatric medication (< 4 weeks)
- diagnosis of moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury in their medical record and/or endorsement of screener questionnaire
- additional comorbid psychiatric diagnoses that were not listed as exclusion criteria are permitted as long as they are considered secondary to the principal diagnosis of MDD, PTSD, or PD/AG as determined by the diagnostic interview
- ineligible Veterans will be referred for non-study-related treatments within mental health at the RHJ VAMC
Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04293341). Outcome figures and adverse-event rates are extracted automatically from the registry's posted results and are provided for clinician reference, not as a substitute for the primary publication.