Posttraumatic growth-oriented peer-based training among U.S. veterans: evaluation of post-intervention and long-term follow-up outcomes
Exposure to trauma among U.S. military veterans occurs at a high rate, often resulting in continued difficulty with emotional adjustment and a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present study provides data from 184 U.S. military veterans who completed a manualized posttraumatic-g...
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Published in | Frontiers in psychology Vol. 14; p. 1322837 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Switzerland
Frontiers Media S.A
2023
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Exposure to trauma among U.S. military veterans occurs at a high rate, often resulting in continued difficulty with emotional adjustment and a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present study provides data from 184 U.S. military veterans who completed a manualized posttraumatic-growth oriented training program during an integrative seven-day retreat.
Data was collected at baseline, after program completion, and at 18-month follow-up.
Results on primary outcomes indicated significant increases, with medium to large effect sizes, in growth related outcomes. Specifically, there was a significant increase in scores by 54% on the posttraumatic growth outcome measure (PTGI-X) from baseline (M = 50.2, SD = 31.1) to endpoint (M = 77.4, SD = 29.6),
(183) = -8.78,
< 0.001. Also, results indicate that immediately following training (Day 7), participants reported a significant decrease of 49% on the PCL-5 from baseline (M = 39.7, SD = 17.6) to endpoint (M = 20.1, SD = 13.2),
(183) = 11.75,
< 0.001. Depression subscale scores decreased by 60% from baseline (M = 8.0, SD = 5.2) to endpoint (M = 3.2, SD = 3.0), t(183) = 10.68,
< 0.001; Anxiety scores decreased by 28% from baseline (M = 5.8, SD = 4.3) to endpoint (M = 4.2, SD = 3.5),
(183) = 4.08,
< 0.001; and Stress scores decreased by 50% from baseline (M = 10.0, SD = 4.4) to endpoint (M = 5.0, SD = 3.3),
(183) = 12.21, p < 0.001. Eighteen-month follow-up data was available for 74 participants and indicated that all significant changes in growth-related outcomes were maintained. Further, all significant changes in symptomatology-related outcomes were also maintained at follow-up.
These findings demonstrate both the immediate and the long-lasting impact of an integrative posttraumatic growth-oriented training program on psychological growth and PTSD symptom reduction among U.S. military veterans. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1664-1078 1664-1078 |
DOI: | 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1322837 |