Evaluation of an inpatient preventive treatment program for soldiers returning from deployment

Since 1999, the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) have been conducting 3-weeks preventive treatment programs aimed at psychological resource-strengthening in soldiers returning from deployment.

Five hundred participants of these programs received the Posttraumatic Stress Scale 10 (PTSS-10) before and after treatment and the rehabilitation assessment questionnaire of the German statutory pension insurance body. Sixty control group subjects received the PTSS-10 twice in an interval of 4-5 months without therapeutic interventions.

Comparison of pre- and post-treatment PTSS-10 results in the covariance analysis showed an effect of the initial PTSS-10-stress-levels and rank category, not of the intervention. On average, the treatment program received 'very good' to 'excellent' overall ratings in the rehabilitation questionnaire. The acceptance of sports and movement therapy was significantly above average, whereas that of individual and group counselling was below.

The results of this pilot study suggest a high acceptance of the post-deployment preventive program. Effectiveness in terms of psychometric improvement cannot be proven at this point.