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Adapting the Manage Emotions to Reduce Aggression Therapy to Reduce Intimate Partner Violence and Promote Psychosocial Recovery in Veteran Couples (MERA-C)

NCT07749755 · Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 120

Last updated 2026-08-06

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

This study will address a pressing unmet need for effective and accessible treatment for Veteran couples with intimate partner violence (IPV). The primary objective is to adapt a brief intervention originally developed to reduce general aggression among individual Veterans with PTSD symptoms (Manage Emotions to Reduce Aggression; MERA) to reduce IPV among Veteran couples. First, the investigators will conduct stakeholder interviews to inform the content, dose, and timing of the adapted MERA-Couples manual (MERA-C). Second, the investigators will examine the preliminary feasibility and acceptability of MERA-C through a single-arm feasibility trial among 10 Veteran couples with IPV. Finally, the investigators will conduct a pilot randomized controlled trial (N= 60 couples) to examine the preliminary within- and between-couple effects of MERA-C versus MERA on (1) participant acceptability and retention and (2) physical and psychological IPV occurrence; emotion regulation; relationship functioning; and psychosocial functioning from pre- to post-treatment and at 1-month follow-up.

Conditions

  • Intimate Partner Violence

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Manage Emotions to Reduce Aggression- Couples

4 weekly dyadic/couples therapy sessions of 45-60 minutes each.

BEHAVIORAL

Manage Emotions to Reduce Aggression

4 weekly individual therapy sessions of 45-60 minutes each.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • VA Office of Research and Development

    lead FED

Principal Investigators

  • Julianne Christina Flanagan, PhD · Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, Charleston, SC

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2027-01-01
Primary Completion
2030-09-30
Completion
2030-09-30

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07749755 on ClinicalTrials.gov