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Prevalence of Mental Health Problems and Willingness to Participate in a Mindfulness Treatment: An Examination among Veterans Injured in Combat.

Adrian J. Bravo, Katie Witkiewitz, Michelle L Kelley, Jason C Redman

Mindfulness November 10, 2018 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-018-1047-4 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Formative cross-sectional survey study Peer reviewed
Sample size 163
Population Veterans wounded in combat recruited from the Combat Wounded Coalition
Intervention Mindfulness-based treatment
Topics Meditation
Keywords Mental health Military Treatment seeking Wounded warriors
Key findings Most combat-wounded veterans surveyed reported significant mental health symptoms and expressed willingness to participate in mindfulness treatment, either at the VA (54.0%) or online (59.5%). Those with problems in multiple health domains and lower self-compassion were significantly more likely to express interest in treatment, and the authors argue this group may represent a very high need population that could benefit from a mindfulness-based treatment.

Abstract

Numerous studies have demonstrated that combat-exposed military veterans are at risk for numerous psychiatric disorders and rates of comorbid mental health and substance use disorders are high. Veterans wounded in combat are a particularly high-risk group of military veterans, however treatment services are often underutilized among this group and it is unclear whether an online treatment program that targets emotional and physical distress (including mental health symptoms and substance use disorders) would be appealing to Veterans wounded in combat. The goal of the current study was to conduct formative research on whether veterans wounded in combat would be interested in an online mindfulness-based treatment to help them cope with emotional and physical discomfort. We recruited Veterans from Combat Wounded Coalition (n = 163; 74.2% non-Hispanic White; 95.7% male) to complete an online survey of mental health and substance use disorder symptoms and willingness to participate in mindfulness treatment. The majority of participants reported significant mental health symptoms and indicated that they would be willing to participate in mindfulness treatment, either at the VA (54.0%) or online (59.5%). Those with problems in multiple health domains and lower self-compassion were significantly more likely to express interest in treatment and likely to represent a very high need group of veterans. The development of a mindfulness-based treatment for this group of individuals could be very helpful in reducing mental health symptoms and improving quality of life among wounded warriors.

Comparable studies

Other cross-sectional and survey studies on meditation, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Experienced meditators and nonmeditating comparison groups 2008 Cross-sectional study
Neural Correlates of Dispositional Mindfulness During Affect Labeling Adult participants 2007 Observational cross-sectional n = 27
Assessing mindfulness in children and adolescents: Development and validation of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM). School-aged children and adolescents 2011 Cross-sectional validation study n = 1,413
Mindfulness and self-compassion as predictors of psychological wellbeing in long-term meditators and matched nonmeditators Experienced meditators and demographically matched nonmeditators 2012 Cross-sectional study n = 152
Mechanisms of Action in the Inverse Relationship Between Mindfulness and Psychological Distress Undergraduates 2008 Cross-sectional, correlational

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