AboutFace: A randomized controlled evaluation of an online peer-based intervention to increase PTSD treatment...

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is prevalent among veterans and evidence-based treatments for PTSD are widely available in the Veterans Health Administration. However, rates of treatment seeking for PTSD remain low, due in part to knowledge gaps, perceived treatment readiness, shame/stigma, pride in self-reliance, and trauma-related avoidance (Zinzow et al., 2012). AboutFace is an online peer-based intervention that was developed to overcome many of these barriers to service seeking. The current clinical trial compared the efficacy of AboutFace to a psychoeducational brochure that addressed stigma and PTSD treatment engagement among veterans recommended for PTSD treatment. A total of N = 330 veterans who had presented for an intake at a PTSD specialty clinic were randomized to either AboutFace (n = 165) or a psychoeducational brochure condition (n = 165) and assessed across primary outcomes of treatment engagement and secondary measures of stigma/attitudes about treatment seeking and PTSD, depression, and quality of life at baseline and at 1, 3, and 6 months. In the intention-to-treat sample, there were no statistically significant group differences in outcomes. However, due to a large percentage of noncompliance in the AboutFace group, we considered "as treated" analysis to further quantify the effects of exposure to the intervention. These analyses revealed that participants who accessed AboutFace for at least 15 min were significantly more likely to initiate treatment, initiated treatment sooner, and completed more therapy sessions than those who did not. Study data support the potential benefit of AboutFace as a brief intervention for increasing PTSD treatment initiation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).