Post-deployment Battlemind training for UK Armed Forces personnel

ISRCTN	ISRCTN92802765
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN92802765
Protocol serial number	CSA/08/039
Sponsor	King's College London (UK)
Funder	Haldane-Spearman Consortium (UK) (ref: TIN no. HSC_07_01_02_002)

Submission date: 28/01/2009
Registration date: 05/03/2009
Last edited: 11/07/2013

Recruitment status: No longer recruiting
Overall study status: Completed
Condition category: Mental and Behavioural Disorders

Prospectively registered

Protocol

Statistical analysis plan

Results

Individual participant data

Plain English summary of protocol

Not provided at time of registration

Contact information

Dr Neil Greenberg
Scientific

Academic Centre for Defence Mental Health
King's College London
Weston Education Centre
Cutcombe Road
London
SE5 9RJ
United Kingdom

Study information

Primary study design	Interventional
Study design	Single centre cluster randomised controlled trial
Secondary study design	Randomised controlled trial
Study type	Participant information sheet
Scientific title	Post-deployment Battlemind training for UK Armed Forces personnel: a cluster-randomised controlled trial
Study objectives	Primary hypothesis: UK Armed Forces Personnel who receive Battlemind training, when compared with personnel who receive a standard post-deployment stress and homecoming brief, will report: 1. Better mental health outcomes 2. Fewer risk taking behaviours 3. Greater perceived team support 4. Fewer problems in combat-to-home transition 5. Less stigmatising beliefs about seeking help for mental health problems Secondary hypotheses: 1. Those participants who have had greater exposure to stressors during deployment will have poorer mental health at baseline and will benefit more from the Battlemind intervention than those with fewer traumatic deployment experiences 2. Personnel receiving Battlemind will have a more positive perception of the training received than those receiving the standard post-deployment stress brief
Ethics approval(s)	1. Ministry of Defence Research Ethics Committee approval received 16th December 2008 (ref: 0863/218) 2. King's College Hospital Research Ethics Committee approval received 18th December 2008 (ref: 08/H0808/179)
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied	Mental Health
Intervention	The intervention group will receive Battlemind training, a US developed post-deployment mental health training package aimed at assisting personnel to adjust to life post-deployment. Battlemind aims to build on people's combat strengths and skills by showing how these strengths can be adapted for the home environment. The control group will receive the standard post-deployment briefs about stress and homecoming that are currently delivered to personnel returning home from operational tour. Both intervention and control briefs will be delivered during the 'decompression' period that personnel undergo on their return from deployment. Both briefs will be delivered in a single session lasting approximately 45 minutes.
Intervention type	Other
Primary outcome measure(s)	Severity of post-traumatic stress symptoms as indicated by the score on the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL). PCL will be assessed prior to receiving the post-deployment brief and again 4 months later.
Key secondary outcome measure(s)	1. Psychological morbidity - 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), assessed prior to the brief and again 4 months later 2. Stigma - Help-Seeking Stigma Questionnaire assessed prior to the brief and again 4 months later The following will be assessed at 4 months: 3. Depression - 9-items from the Patient Health Questionnaire. As of 17/02/2010 the following outcome was also added to this record: Anxiety - 7-items from the Patient Health Questionnaire. 4. Alcohol consumption - Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) 5. Driving behaviour 6. Sleep quality 7. Quality of combat-to-home transition 8. Relationship satisfaction 9. Anger 10. Team support 11. Occupational and social functioning (added to this record on 17/02/2010)
Completion date	31/01/2011

Eligibility

Participant type(s)	Patient
Age group	Adult
Lower age limit	18 Years
Sex	All
Target sample size at registration	2000
Key inclusion criteria	1. UK Armed Forces personnel returning from operational tour 2. Aged 18 years and over; both men and women will be eligible to participate
Key exclusion criteria	1. Individual augmentees who do not return as part of a formed unit 2. Units that are primarily composed of reserve personnel or headquarters staff
Date of first enrolment	01/03/2009
Date of final enrolment	31/01/2011

Locations

Countries of recruitment

United Kingdom
England

Study participating centre

Academic Centre for Defence Mental Health

London
SE5 9RJ
United Kingdom

Results and Publications

Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share	No
IPD sharing plan summary	Not provided at time of registration
IPD sharing plan

Study outputs

Output type	Details	Date created	Date added	Peer reviewed?	Patient-facing?
Results article	results	01/06/2012		Yes	No
Participant information sheet	Participant information sheet	11/11/2025	11/11/2025	No	Yes