Multifamily Group to Reduce Marital Conflict and Disability in Veterans With mTBI

This project addresses the rehabilitation and mental health needs of married combat Veterans post-deployed from Iraq or Afghanistan with a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and/or significant posttraumatic stress (PTS) or combat-related stress (CS) by providing psychoeducation, communication and problem solving skills in a multifamily group (MFG) setting. In this group, Veterans and spouses/cohabiting partners learn customized therapeutic strategies to help compensate for deficits and promote Veteran community integration, interpersonal and emotion regulation skills, and marital satisfaction. The effectiveness of the skills-based MFG will be compared to that of a health education group which offers a supportive environment and basic education without skills training through a randomized clinical trial. As there is currently no family-based intervention for Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) Veterans with mTBI offered within the VA spectrum of services, this intervention fills a crucial gap in healthcare for our newest Veterans.