OT548
Research Design
Literature Search Summary
Article (APA Format)
Arney, J., Cully, J. A., Hundt, N. E., Robinson, A., & Stanley, M. A.(2015). Veterans’ perspectives on benefits and drawbacks of peer support for posttraumatic stress disorder. Military Medicine, 180, 851-856. Doi: 10.7205/MILMED-D-14-00536
Level of Evidence
Participant Characteristics Site/Context of study Variables and Measures Procedures Key Findings Application to your topic
Randomized Control Study
Level 1 evidence
(Level of Evidence – Arthroscopy, 2015)
(23) Veteran participants with PTSD who had completed 8 sessions of PE or CPT in a VA PTSD clinic. Each provided feedback regarding peer support fits with existing models. Clients were
from the VA PTSD clinic. These clients were chosen from a provided referral list referred for PTSD treatment between May 2012 and Sep 2013. Participants were given the option to engage in a onetime interview in person or via phone interview. A developed interview guide was used to gather the veteran’s opinions about provided PTSD treatments and PTSD peer support. The interviews were transcribed by a professional service.
Ground theory analysis was used to establish a code book with definitions and examples from each author and resolved discrepancies though discussion.
Atlas.ti V6.0- A qualitative data management software which linked quotations to multiple codes as appropriate. The results of the study revealed the veteran’s perception of benefits, drawbacks, and preferred peer program characteristics. This study could help other professionals gather and research comparative studies that include veterans with PTSD, provided insight regarding previous peer support, and can help strategize treatment approaches with future studies.
Literature Search Summary
Article (APA Format)
Bennett, J.L., Bridges, W., Duregger, C., Hawkins, L., Hoffman, J., Martin, T., Townsend, J., & Sotherden, E.(2018). Preliminary long-term health outcomes associated with recreation-based health and wellness programs for injured service members. Cogent Psychology, 5:1, DOI: https: //10.1080/23311908.2018.1444330
Level of Evidence
Participant Characteristics Site/Context of study Variables and Measures Procedures Key Findings Application to your topic
A Retrospective Study
Level 3 evidence
(Level of Evidence – Arthroscopy, 2015)
(127)participants were in Project Sanctuary, which was a weeklong recreational based health and wellness family retreat for injured military service members.
However, data was only collected from the service members, not spouse/family. Project Sanctuary is a no cost, recreational based health, and wellness program for injured military service members and their significant others.
Project Sanctuary primary location was in Colorado; however, they also partner up with Four Star Alliance which helps implement programming across the nation. The following three instruments were used in the study based upon the FourStar Alliance and The Sanctuary’s interest in understanding the symptomology and health impact on service members who attended the program.
1.The PTS Disorder Checklist of Military which was a 17 item self-report measure completed by participants which included hyperarousal, avoidance, and re-experiencing.
2. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress scale was a 21 item self-report questionnaire that measured the severity of a range of symptoms common to depression and anxiety.
3. The Veterans RAND Health Survey which was a 12 item short from that measures self-reported physical and mental health functioning. This measure demonstrated good validity, context validity and internal consistency.
This evidence based therapeutic program focused on physical, emotional, and spiritual healing using the combination of recreational therapy, education and couple and marriage counseling. Significant positive responses regarding PTSD were attained during the intervention. However, although there was slight fluctuations in scores issues with follow up status, positive responses were maintained over time. This study could help other professionals gather and research comparative studies that include veterans with PTSD, providing insight regarding peer support, and can help strategize treatment approaches with future studies, due to the presented positive outcome.
Literature Search Summary
Article (APA Format)
Bennett, J.L., Milligan, B., & Vella, E. J. (2013). Participation in outdoor recreation program predicts improved psychosocial well-being among veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder: p Pilot study. Military Medicine, Volume 178, Issue 3, Pages 254–260. https://doi.org/10.7205/MILMED-D-12-00308
Level of Evidence
Participant Characteristics Site/Context of study Variables and Measures Procedures Key Findings Application to your topic
Randomized Control Study
Level 1 evidence
(Level of Evidence – Arthroscopy, 2015)
The participants included 74 veterans (69 men, 5 women; M = 47.27, SD = 14.55 years; range: 22–64 years) who participated in a flying fish program, reducing the psychological concomitants well beings for veterans with PTSD. The study took place at Rivers of Recovery (ROR) residential facility, located off the Green River in northern Utah.
ROR is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving quality of life for veterans with disabilities through fly-fishing excursions along the Green River, a body of water stocked with rainbow and brown trout, providing a calm alertness and a clean pristine environment. This study represents a repeated measures longitudinal assessment of 19 separate 3 night, 2 day fly-fishing excursions offered through the ROR program on the Green River in northern Utah.
Variable Assessments included:
1.The PCL-M was used to assess degree of PTSD symptoms via diagnostic criteria of hyperarousal, re-experiencing, and avoidance behaviors within the past month
2.The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), a 10 item self-report inventory, was used to assess how unpredictable, uncontrollable, and overloaded respondents found their lives in the past month.
3. The Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI), an 18-item Likert-type scale designed to measure the severity of anxiety, depression, and somatic symptoms of stress in the past week.
4. The Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS, a widely used inventory with demonstrated convergent validities relative to other standardized mood inventories and adequate internal consistencies across subscales.
5. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Inventory (PSQI), a 19-item self-report questionnaire designed to measure 7 components of sleep quality in the past month. The fly-fishing excursions involved a small group of veterans sharing lodging accommodations in a 3-bedroom house for 3 nights and spending a total of 16 hours fly-fishing from drift boats on the Green River across 2 days (e.g., arriving on a Thursday evening, fly-fishing on Friday and Saturday, and returning home on Sunday morning).
The finding revealed that outdoor activities can improve psychological wellbeing.
There was an overall significant reduction in all subscales of hyperarousal, avoidance and repeated results of trauma symptoms with . The findings also suggest that participants in peer based recreation promote sleep quality among this population. This study could help other professionals gather and research comparative studies that include veterans with PTSD, providing insight regarding peer support, and can help strategize treatment approaches with future studies, due to the presented positive outcome.
Literature Search Summary
Article (APA Format)
Bennett, J., Lundberg, N. & Smith, S.(2011) Outcomes of adaptive sports and recreation participation among veterans returning from combat with acquired disability.Therapeutic Recreation Journal Vol. XLV, No. 2 • pp. 105-120 • 2011. Doi:lundberg_final.pdf (va.gov)
Level of Evidence
Participant Characteristics Site/Context of study Variables and Measures Procedures Key Findings Application to your topic
Randomized Control Study
Level 1 evidence
(Level of Evidence – Arthroscopy, 2015)
(18) Veterans, with PTSD, participated in a therapeutic sports program promoting change with quality of life, mood states, and perceived confidence. Higher Ground program operated by Sun Valley Adaptive Sports’ (SVAS) in Sun Valley Idaho. The assessments were used in the study to determine the results.
1.The World Health Organization’s Quality of Life Assessment (WHOQOL), a 26-item generic quality of life instrument applicable to individuals from various cultures and life situations.
2. The Profile of Mood States-Brief (POMS-B), a 30-item scale designed to measure mood states.
3.A four-item modified version of the Perceived Competence Scale (PCS) designed to measure competence in a specific sport environment. Participants were separated into groups.
The first group consisted of five veterans with acquired disabilities and their significant others who participated in various adaptive sports and recreation activities including water skiing, kayak, river rafting, canoeing, and fly-fishing, over a five-day period. The second group included six veterans with acquired disabilities and their significant others who participated in a five-day fly-fishing camp.
The third group included seven veterans with acquired disabilities and their significant others who participated for five days in ski/snowboarding, ice skating, and Nordic skiing. The findings of this study was revealed to be an important first step in establishing the efficacy of recreation services for veterans of OIF/OEF who have acquired a disability. esults indicated no statistically significant improvement in QoL from pretest to posttest.
No notable differences were observed in the areas of physical health, social relationships, and environment.
No notable differences were observed in the areas of physical health, social relationships, and environment.
Negative This study could help other professionals gather and research comparative studies that include veterans with PTSD, providing insight regarding peer support, and can help strategize treatment approaches with future studies, due to the presented positive outcome.
Literature Search Summary
Article (APA Format)
Wheeler, M., Cooper, N. R., Andrews, L., Hacker Hughes, J., Juanchich, M., Rakow, T., & Orbell, S. (2020). Outdoor recreational activity experiences improve psychological wellbeing of military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder: Positive findings from a pilot study and a randomised controlled trial. PloS one, 15(11), e0241763. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0241763
Level of Evidence
Participant Characteristics Site/Context of study Variables and Measures Procedures Key Findings Application to your topic
Randomized Control Study
Level 1 evidence
(Level of Evidence – Arthroscopy, 2015)
Men and women military veterans with PTSD (N = 30) participated in a group outdoor activity (angling, equine care, or archery and falconry combined). Locally to home, delivered intervention used to enhance possibilities for subsequent social support from other veterans taking part. The assessments were used in the study to determine the results.
We designed two experiments to contribute to and extend previous literature by providing an evaluation of the effects of brief peer group outdoor recreational activity experiences and the potential for military veterans to engage in such interventions. The use of outdoor recreational activities to ameliorate PTSD and co-morbid symptoms and improve well-being in military veterans appears to be a viable and useful treatment option. This study could help other professionals gather and research comparative studies that include veterans with PTSD, providing insight regarding peer support, and can help strategize treatment approaches with future studies, due to the presented positive outcome.