Reflective Function as a Mediator of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT)

In a randomized controlled study, the investigators recently showed that fourteen weeks of
treatment with Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) worked at least as well as the best studied
exposure therapy in relieving symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (American
Journal of Psychiatry, 2015). The investigators do not know the mechanism by which IPT works,
however, except that it does not work through exposing patients to reminders of their trauma,
as most exposure therapies for PTSD do. Rather, IPT seems to work in part by helping numbed
patients to reconnect with and to understand their feelings, then use those feelings to
handle interpersonal encounters with other people. One promising measure of this possible
mechanism of IPT is Reflective Function, which has two components.

Reflective Functioning (RF) measures how well an individual understands his or her emotions
as well as the emotions of significant other people in his or her life. A separate aspect is
Symptom-Specific Reflective Function (SSRF), which gauges the individual's emotional
understanding of his or her PTSD symptoms. Both RF and SSRF can be measured in a tape
recorded interview that takes about 20 minutes, in which the interviewer asks the patient to
describe relationships with important people in the patient's life, as well as questions
about the patient's understanding of his or her symptoms. The tape is then transcribed for
scoring.

A Veterans Clinic at New York State Psychiatric Institute to treat armed service veterans and
their families who have PTSD and other psychiatric disorders has opened. This clinic is
covered under a separate IRB protocol. As some of the patients in that clinic will receive
treatment with IPT, the investigators propose to assess RF, SSRF, and a related measure, the
Structured Clinical Interview for Separation Anxiety Symptoms (SCI-SAS), at three points in
treatment (before treatment starts; at week 4; and after treatment ends, at week 14) to see
whether change in SSRF in particular accounts for improvement in PTSD as measured by the
Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), which will be assessed pre-treatment (week 0),
mid-treatment (week 7), and post-treatment (week 14). Both veterans and their family members
will be eligible for this protocol so long as they meet study eligibility criteria. Because
there is no reason to expect that psychotropic medication alters RF, patients who are taking
stable doses of medication will be allowed to continue them during IPT treatment.

Inclusion Criteria: Method of Ascertainment:

1. Age 18 and older History

2. Primary diagnosis of DSM-5 PTSD Clinical interview: CAPS-5

3. Significant distress affecting social/ occupational functioning Clinical interview,
self-report measures PHQ-9, GAD-7, PCL-5, DRRI-2

4. Prior military service (for veteran) or significant relationship with individual with
prior military service (for family member) History

5. Able to give consent, fluent in English or Spanish Clinical assessment

Exclusion Criteria:

1. History of Axis I psychiatric diagnosis of psychotic disorder, bipolar disorder,
antisocial personality disorder Clinical assessment

2. Unstable or life threatening medical condition Clinical assessment

3. Acute suicide or homicide risk Clinical assessment