Get Better Together: Relationship Education For Military Couples

NCT07096271 | Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: USUHS.2022-100HT94252410843
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 1,000
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study is testing a program called Get Better Together, a relationship education program designed to help military couples effectively navigate life stressors as a team. The goal is to find out if attending Get Better Together improves mental health and relationship skills, and reduces problems like alcohol misuse, aggression, and suicide risk. Couples who join the study will be randomly placed into one of two groups. One group will attend Get Better Together at a weekend retreat. The other group will continue their usual activities and later receive access to an online relationship education program. All participants will complete surveys before the retreat and again 2, 4, and 6 months later.

Conditions

Emotion Regulation; Relationship Conflict; Suicide Risk; Alcohol Use; Intimate Partner Violence (IPV); Relationship Distress; Interpersonal Emotion Regulation

Keywords

Behavioral: Get Better Together (GBT); military; intimate relationships; suicide prevention; primary prevention; emotion regulation; relationship education; interpersonal emotion regulation

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Suicide Cognitions

  Assessed using the Suicide Cognition Scale-Revised (SCS-R), a 16-item validated self-report measure capturing cognitive risk factors for suicidal behavior. Scores range from 0 to 64, with higher scores reflect greater risk.

  Baseline, 2-month, 4-month, and 6-month follow-up

• Alcohol Misuse

  Measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C), a 3-item measure designed to identify hazardous drinking. Scores range from 0 to 12, with higher scores reflect greater likelihood of drinking affecting one's health and safety.

  Baseline, 2-month, 4-month, and 6-month follow-up

• Intimate Partner Violence

  Measured using the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale-Short Form (CTS2S), a 20-item measure assessing multiple types of relationship abuse. Dichotomous scores will indicate the presence of any form of abuse. Dichotomous subscale scores will indicate the presence of assault, injury, psychological aggression, or sexual coercion.

  Baseline, 2-month, 4-month, and 6-month follow-up

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Emotion Dysregulation

  Baseline, 2-month, 4-month, and 6-month follow-up

• Relationship Conflict

  Baseline, 2-month, 4-month, and 6-month follow-up

• Interpersonal Emotion Regulation with Romantic Partner

  Baseline, 2-month, 4-month, and 6-month follow-up

• Relationship Functioning

  Baseline, 2-month, 4-month, and 6-month follow-up

Other Outcomes (1)

• Military Readiness (active-duty participants only)

  Baseline, 2-month, 4-month, and 6-month follow-up

Study Arms (2)

Get Better Together (GBT)

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants assigned to this arm will attend an in-person weekend retreat where they receive approximately 10 hours of structured curriculum focused on equipping couples with evidence informed strategies to cope with stress as a team, improve emotion regulation, and reduce conflict. GBT includes modules on emotion awareness, acceptance, reappraisal, constructive problem solving, and communication. The format integrates didactic material, videos, group discussions, and couples' skill practice. All materials and delivery methods have been tailored for military populations based on extensive stakeholder input and field testing.

Behavioral: Get Better Together (GBT)

Control Group

NO INTERVENTION

Couples in the control group will not receive any structured relationship enrichment programming (e.g., retreats or workshops) during the 6-month follow-up period. After the 6-month follow-up period, couples in the control group will be provided access to ePREP, a self-paced on line version of the PREP curriculum.

Interventions

Get Better Together (GBT) BEHAVIORAL

Get Better Together is a couple-based, primary prevention program designed to reduce risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors, problematic alcohol use, and intimate partner violence by addressing two transdiagnostic drivers: emotion dysregulation and relationship conflict. The intervention is an adaptation of the empirically supported Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP), modified in collaboration with military stakeholders to meet the unique cultural and contextual needs of military couples. The GBT curriculum includes approximately 10 hours of structured content presented using didactic instruction, video demonstrations, group discussions, and guided couple exercises. Skills focus on interpersonal emotion regulation (e.g., emotion identification, acceptance, reappraisal, and problem solving) and evidence-based communication strategies (e.g., structured communication strategies, conflict de-escalation).

Get Better Together (GBT)

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Couple is in a committed romantic relationship of at least six months
• At least one partner is a military Service member on active duty
• Both partners are age 18 or older
• Couple has not previously attended a relationship enrichment retreat or workshop together (e.g., CREDO, Strong Bonds, BSRT). This does not include couples therapy or pre-marital counseling.

You may not qualify if:

• One or both partners decline to provide informed consent
• Required command endorsement for retreat attendance is not received (for Service members E-6 and below)
• Couple is unable or unwilling to attend any of the scheduled retreats during the study period

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine: lead
• Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Bethesda, Maryland, 20814, United States

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Emotional Regulation; Alcohol Drinking; Suicide Prevention

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Self-Control; Social Behavior; Behavior; Drinking Behavior; Suicide; Self-Injurious Behavior; Behavioral Symptoms

Study Officials

• Sarah Carter, Ph.D.

  Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Sarah Carter, Ph.D.

CONTACT

301-400-5675; GetBetterTogether@usuhs.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 24, 2025
• First Posted: July 31, 2025
• Study Start: September 22, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): May 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2028
• Last Updated: October 20, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Beginning 12 months after publication of primary outcomes. No planned end date.
• Access Criteria: Access to de-identified trial data may be provided to qualified researchers. Requests are subject to review and require a brief proposal and a signed Data Use Agreement outlining appropriate safeguards and data handling procedures.

Locations

US (1)