Resilient Warrior: A Stress Management Group to Improve Psychological Health in Service Members

Many veterans deployed after 9/11/2001 are impacted by subthreshold levels of posttraumatic stress, anxiety, or other psychological health problems that may interfere with successful reintegration. Conventional treatments, including medication and trauma-focused individual psychotherapies, may not be optimally adapted, accepted, or effective to treat these subsyndromal symptoms.

We developed "Resilient Warrior," a 4-session, group-based, mind-body stress-management and resilience program targeted to build skills and assessed whether its format was accessible and acceptable, and potentially efficacious, to support resilience among service members.

From April 2014 to October 2014, 15 participants (53.3% women; mean age=36.6 y; SD=6.2) were surveyed for program acceptability and feasibility and completed self-reported psychological health outcomes before and after program participation. The majority (71.4%) of participants reported that the program included the right number of sessions, and all of them reported that it was helpful and relevant and that they would recommend it to others. While changes in self-reported resilience were only marginal, participation was associated with improvements in depressive symptoms, perceived stress, anxiety, and general sense of self efficacy.

These pilot data provide preliminary support that "Resilient Warrior," a group-based, stress reduction and resilience program, may improve psychological health in service members even when delivered in community settings. Randomized controlled trials with longer follow-up periods are needed to establish efficacy and effectiveness for this program.