Building Emotional Self-awareness Teletherapy in Civilians and Service Members With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Telemedicine

Background:

• Mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) often leads to challenges in emotional processing, including alexithymia and emotion dysregulation.
• These difficulties can significantly impact the psychological well-being of both civilian and military populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the initial effectiveness of Building Emotional Self-Awareness Teletherapy (BEST) in addressing alexithymia and improving emotional functioning.
• To assess these outcomes in civilians and military service members/veterans who have sustained a mild TBI.

Main Methods:

• A nonrandomized, pretest-posttest design with a 3-month follow-up was employed.
• Forty participants (20 civilians, 20 service members/veterans) with mild TBI and elevated alexithymia/emotion dysregulation received an 8-session remote BEST intervention.
• Standardized measures assessed alexithymia, emotional awareness, emotion regulation, resilience, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and overall change.

Main Results:

• High retention (90%) was observed, with 36 participants completing the study.
• Significant improvements were noted immediately and at 3 months post-treatment across multiple measures, including alexithymia, emotional awareness, and emotion regulation (all P < .001 for most scales).
• A substantial proportion of participants showed clinically meaningful improvements, and 83% reported positive changes in emotional functioning.

Conclusions:

• The findings suggest that BEST is a potentially effective teletherapy intervention for improving psychological health in individuals with mild TBI, alexithymia, and emotion dysregulation.
• Further research with larger, more rigorous trials is warranted to confirm the long-term impact and generalizability of BEST.