Attachment and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Military Personnel: Characterization of the French Military Population, Exploration of Biopsychosocial Factors, and Study of the Impact of Security Priming on Emotional Contagion Capacities

NCT06996275 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: 2024PBMD032025-A00068-41
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 94
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a pathology that impairs the quality of life of sufferers. In military personnel, it can lead to military incapacity. This psychopathology is characterized by confrontation with one or more traumatic events in the individual's life history. Symptoms include cognitive and mood disorders, avoidance, hyperactivation (hypervigilance and anger) and intrusions (flashbacks and nightmares). Studies show that the prevalence of PTSD in military personnel fluctuates considerably from one situation to another (pre-deployment/post-deployment, etc.). In these at-risk populations, the often more complex PTSD clinic may also account for the heterogeneity of prevalences observed. Nevertheless, PTSD tends to become chronic in military personnel, making it particularly difficult to return to a "previous" state. In French casualties, beyond the symptoms already mentioned, complaints focus on difficulties in social interaction situations involving others in social life (attachment style to others) and in everyday life (public transport, supermarket shopping, social interactions, presence of crowds...). In the context of post-traumatic stress disorder, we would like to explore the processes of social cognition that enable people to interact in their environment, in relation to biological, psychosocial and physiological variables that may constitute risk or maintenance factors for the pathology.

Conditions

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD); Emotional Contagion

Keywords

PTSD; complex PTSD; military veteran; emotional contagion; oxytocin; vasopressine

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• To characterize attachment styles within a military population by comparing a group of military personnel without PTSD (No-PTSD Group) with a group of military personnel with PTSD (PTSD Group).

  Our primary outcome measure involves a comparison of the proportions of individuals exhibiting a secure attachment style versus an insecure attachment style (including the subtypes anxious-avoidant, anxious-ambivalent, and disorganized) between the two groups.

  One visit study

Study Arms (2)

PTSD-group

military personnel or veterans suffering from PTSD

no PTSD-group

military on active duty without PTSD

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

No-PTSD Group: Military personnel without PTSD will be recruited from within an infantry regiment of the army. PTSD Group: Military personnel with PTSD will be recruited during workshops conducted by the CABAT (Cellule d'Aide aux Blessés de l'Armée de Terre - Army Wounded Support Unit) in 2025 and 2026.

You may qualify if:

• Volunteers who agreed to participate in the study and provided written consent
• Affiliated with social security
• Proficient in the French language
• Military personnel diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder related to their duties
• Participants in activities offered by the wounded service support units

You may not qualify if:

• Adults subject to a protective measure
• Refusal to participate in the study
• Unrectified Legionnaires

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Direction Centrale du Service de Santé des Armées: lead

Biospecimen

Retention: SAMPLES WITH DNA

Salivary samplings : (i) for the measurement of vasopressin and oxytocin levels , via saliva impregnation by leaving an absorbent (cylindrical cotton) in the mouth for 2 minutes without chewing, and (ii) and for the analysis of genetic polymorphisms, by collecting 2 ml of spit.

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Stress Disorders, Traumatic; Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders; Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Anaïs Duffaud, PhD

  Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Central Study Contacts

Anaïs Duffaud, PhD

CONTACT

0033 1 78 65 13 15; anais.duffaud@intradef.gouv.fr

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: CASE CONTROL
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 21, 2025
• First Posted: May 30, 2025
• Study Start: May 27, 2025
• Primary Completion: December 31, 2025
• Study Completion: December 31, 2025
• Last Updated: May 30, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share