Combat Stress and Substance Use Intervention
Abstract
The objective of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of two Web-based brief interventions (BIs) for reducing stress and substance use among active duty and National Guard military personnel. The interventions were designed to (1) educate personnel about the use of substances as a poor coping mechanism for stress reactions and (2) boost resilience to stress, thereby reducing the tendency to self-medicate through substance use. Volunteers from two separate states (N=320) completed a brief Web assessment for alcohol use and current stressors and stress reactions. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three intervention conditions: Wait-list control, Stress BI, or Stress plus Substance Use BI. We consider the intervention to have been successful in producing significant reductions in PTSD symptoms, stressors, and stress reactions for all three intervention groups at the 6-month follow-up assessment. While there was a significant decrease in alcohol use at 6 months for all three groups, the sample had very low rates of alcohol use at baseline so there was little room for change.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1038969
Entities
People
- Janice M.Y. Brown
Organizations
- RTI International