Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Predicting Dialectic Behavioral Treatment Outcomes In Veterans At High Risk For Suicide, Courtney Stich

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Numerous studies have shown that veterans are at higher risk for suicide compared to the U.S. general population. Despite significant effort, awareness amongst clinicians and policymakers, these rates continue to increase. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy has shown great success in treating suicidality and emotional dysregulation due to mental illness such as Borderline Personality Disorder, yet has never been studied in the veteran population. The initial study found that veterans responded equally to DBT and TAU. This study looked at what clinical and demographic characteristics could predict DBT treatment success. Veterans who identified as women, with higher education, and more suicide attempts …

Exploring Mental Health Treatment For Female Veterans In The Us : Assessing The Influences On Female Veterans In Selection Of Treatment Location, Comparing Va And Non-Va Settings, Bethany J. Ferry

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative survey based study was to learn why women veterans choose VA versus non-VA mental health treatment when they need care. The study was designed to gain insight into choices that women veterans make when selecting mental health care treatment centers, and what motivates them in this choice. Women cited a number of barriers to treatment, particularly regarding accessing treatment through the VA. These barriers included limited appointment times, high turnover of providers, insufficient numbers of veterans and female veterans as providers, and feeling uncomfortable in the treatment environment.

"War Was Either Going To Be A Skeleton In My Closet Or I Could Try To Make It Something Else" : An Exploration Of Moral Injury, Moral Repair, And Veteran Anti-War Activism, Zoe Rose Rudow

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This exploratory study investigates the impact of collective anti-war organizing on veterans’ experiences of moral injury. Moral injury refers to the emotional, psychological, and spiritual unrest that emerges as the result of “perpetrating, failing to prevent, [or] bearing witness to… acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations” in the context of war (Litz et al., 2009, p 695). While current literature centers treatment for moral injury through clinical interventions, this study investigates if and how anti-war activism can provide a process for moral repair. Qualitative interviews with six veteran anti- war activists reveal that many intervention steps proposed …

The Impact Of Clinical Social Workers' Conceptualizations Of Moral Injury On Their Treatment Actions In Work With Veterans, Zachary P. Wigham

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This exploratory study was designed to determine how clinical social workers’ conceptualizations of Moral Injury impacted their treatment actions in work with veterans. Additionally, this study allowed insights into the clinical social workers’ education and practice on Moral Injury.

Using semi-structured interviews with licensed clinical social workers who each held a Master of Social Work degree and held at least two years of experience working with veterans, this study gathered data from 7 participants. This study gathered data categorized under five major areas: demographics, conceptualizations and related data, sources of learning and frequency of contact, treatment actions, and perceived skill …

Clinicians' Voices On Suicide Prevention For Veterans, Katherine E. Culpepper

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This was an exploratory study using a mixed methods design. The purpose of the study was to examine suicide prevention programs from the perspective of clinical practitioners who work or have worked with veterans in therapeutic settings. The data was collected anonymously through Survey Monkey. The study focused on practitioner observations and insights regarding increased risk factors and effective ways to meet the needs of veterans who are at risk for suicide. A total of 40 clinical respondents who work or have worked with veterans in therapeutic settings participated in this qualitative study. Participants were recruited through social media sites …

Moral Injury In Veterans : A Theoretical Investigation Of The Psychic, Moral And Social Sequelae Of War Trauma, Sarah C. Towers

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Although the idea that a violation of deeply held moral and ethical values can result in a profound psychic, social and spiritual wounding is an ancient one, the exploration of the phenomenon of moral injury in the field of mental health has only recently gained traction. Moral injury is increasingly being regarded as its own psychological phenomenon, one that shares symptomology with PTSD, but is also distinct, and as yet not sufficiently accounted for in current PTSD criteria. This theoretical thesis charts the evolving clinical construct of moral injury and draws on two bodies of theory, narrative theory and adult …

Promoting Posttraumatic Growth Among Oif/Oef Veterans : A Theoretical Exploration Of The Challenges Of Reintegration, Erin E. Clements

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Approximately 2.2 million men and women have been deployed in service of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And veterans are returning to their communities in large numbers, many of them with a range of visible and invisible medical and psychological injuries and needs (Tanielian and Jaycox, 2008; Hoge et al., 2004; Hoge, Auchterloni, and Milliken, 2006). The process of veterans re-entering civilian society following a deployment is known as reintegration (Demers, 2011). While the mental health issues and needs of returning OIF/OEF veterans have been widely studied (Tanielian and Jaycox, 2008) their experiences and struggles related to reintegration remain …

Oef/Oif Veterans With And Without Ptsd : Levels Of Relationship Distress, Social Support, Combat Experience, And Deployment, Jeanne-Marie E. Mailloux

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

As Veterans have returned home from the OEF/OIF wars they have faced many struggles with reintegration. Studies of Veterans returning home have found rates of PTSD as high as 18 % (Hoge et al., 2004; Hoge, Terhakopian, Castro, Messer, and Engel, 2007). The symptomatology of PTSD has historically complicated Veterans primary relationships as well other interpersonal relationships and this study seeks to look at the relationship between PTSD and interpersonal distress in a sample of Veterans returning from the OEF/OIF wars. The author conducted secondary analysis of data from a survey taken by a sample of Connecticut Veterans (n = …

The Demographic And Clinical Characteristics Of Female Veterans Who Engage In Complementary And Alternative Medicine, Heather W. Gladstone

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Prior research has demonstrated that specific types of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are beneficial in decreasing mental health symptoms. Despite this, rates of CAM use are relatively low among veterans, and data about CAM use among female veterans is non-existent. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the demographic and clinical characteristics of female veterans that engage in CAM. Female Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom Veterans (n=365) in Veterans Affairs (VA) care participated in a web-based survey that was one component of a larger VA study. Results indicated that slightly more than one third of …

Transition Home : An Exploratory Study Of The Transition From Military To Civilian Life Among Veterans Of Operation Enduring Freedom And Operation Iraqi Freedom, Jillian Madgel Early

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study was undertaken to explore the experience transitioning out of the military for veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The study paid particular attention to the role of meaning in life in this transition. Twelve veteran participants were recruited to participate in this qualitative study through posting of call for participants through veterans organizations, craigslist volunteer ads, and snowball sampling methods. The study collected demographic information, military service history, responses to the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, and qualitative responses to a semi-structured interview consisting of six questions. The interview topics …

Navigating War And Reintegration Into Civilian Life : Clinicians' Perspectives On How Their Operation Enducing Freedom (Oef) And Operation Iraqi Freedom (Oif) Clients Cope : A Project Based Upon An Independent Investigation, Andrea Elizabeth Mitchell

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative study examines the experiences of veterans and active duty service members who engaged in the current wars termed Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in Iraq and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan. The investigation is based on the perspectives of 11 mental health clinicians who work primarily with OEF and OIF veterans in the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) medical facilities and Vet Centers. This study examines resiliency, risk factors, and coping methods utilized by warriors during deployment, in addition to specific questions regarding female service members and soldiers who have been deployed multiple times. The study investigates how …

An Exploratory Study : Hispanic/Latino Oef/Oif U.S. Military Veterans Readjusting Post Deployment, Susana Ochoa

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

There are a growing number of service members being deployed and sent to war, heightening the need to explore and address the concerns of U.S. military veterans. Current research on post deployed military veterans is limited by the lack of an equal representation of ethnic minorities in their study populations. This exploratory study attempted to investigate how Hispanic/Latino U.S. military veterans who deployed to Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom, were readjusting to life post deployment. This study used an online survey consisting of demographic questions and the Post Deployment Readjustment Inventory (Katz, in press). A purposive sample of …