Increasing Treatment Seeking Among At-Risk Service Members Returning from Warzones
Abstract
Background: Reducing suicide is a national priority and an urgent concern within the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Indeed, rates of suicide among active duty service members have increased dramatically since 2005, and there is great concern that elevated risk will carry over following discharge from active service. The goal of the proposed study is to improve initiation of behavioral health (i.e., mental health, substance use) treatment services among untreated, at-risk U.S. military service members. The goal to facilitatebehavioral health treatment is consistent with recommendations provided in reports by the Department of Defense, U.S. Army, U.S. Surgeon General, and the Institute of Medicine Objective/Hypothesis: Test the effectiveness of the intervention on attitudes toward behavioral health treatment among at-risk service members. Hypothesis 1a: Participants receiving the cognitive-behavioral (CB) intervention will have significant increases in positive attitudes about treatment at 1-month follow-up compared to controls. Hypothesis 1b: Participants receiving the CB intervention will have significant increases in the intention to initiate behavioral health treatment compared to controls. Test the effectiveness of the intervention on the initiation of and adherence to behavioral health treatment. Hypothesis 2a: Participants receiving the CB intervention will be more likely to initiate behavioral health treatment than participants in control group during 6-month follow-up. Hypothesis 2b: Participants receiving the CB intervention will attend more behavioral health treatment sessions than participants in the control group over 6-month follow-up. Study Design: We propose a randomized controlled clinical trial of 1,200 military service members who are at increased risk for suicide but not currently in behavioral health treatment for the purpose of determining if a brief intervention improves the initiation of treatment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1124251
Entities
People
- Tracy Stecker
Organizations
- Medical University of South Carolina