Using Emotion Regulation to Decrease Aggression in Veterans With PTSD

Impulsive aggression (IA) is common among Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and PTSD is one of the most prevalent post deployment mental health conditions affecting Afghanistan and Iraq Veterans. An inability to manage one's emotions (emotion dysregulation) is an underlying mechanism of IA. Reducing IA and increasing use of PTSD evidence-based psychotherapies are two critical missions for the Veterans Health Administration. This research supports these missions by providing a 3-session emotion regulation training (Manage Emotions to Reduce Aggression) to Veterans in order to teach them how to manage emotions and prepare for PTSD treatment. This is an open trail, so all Veterans who meet the inclusion criteria will be allowed to receive the treatment. Each Veteran's level of aggression and emotion dysregulation will be measured at the beginning and end to the treatment. By enhancing Veterans' abilities to cope with trauma-related emotions and feel equipped to initiate PTSD treatments, this research aims to help Veterans decrease IA and ultimately recover from PTSD.