Women veterans' outcomes and experiences with STEP-Home transdiagnostic reintegration workshops: Implications for...

Women Veterans (WVs) face unique challenges reintegrating into civilian life after military service. Yet, there is a current dearth of information on treatment outcomes and feasability among WVs, particularly regarding interventions that target reintegration focused content and outcomes. The present study is a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial that integrates quantitative and qualitative measures to assess WVs' outcomes and experiences with the STEP-Home (SH) transdiagnostic reintegration workshop. A total of 57 Veterans ages 24-65 years (n = 37 men; n = 20 women) completed SH and provided qualitative feedback post-intervention. Sex-stratified outcomes indicated that both men and women improved in reintegration (ps < 0.01), though the effect was smaller among WVs (ds = 0.42 vs 0.67). Women and men also experienced moderate improvements in neurobehavioral symptoms and frontal system functioning (ps < 0.001; ds = 0.48-1.00). WVs showed unique improvements in communication (p = .007, d = 0.50), and personal control (p = .016, d = 0.58). Men showed unique improvements in anger expression (p < .001, d = 0.52) and impulse control (p = .002, d = 0.57). Women represented 35% of Veterans who completed STEP-Home at follow up, a notable overrepresentation of women when compared to their prevalence in the US military. Dropout rates among WVs were similar to men (p > .05). Qualitative feedback indicated that some WVs (n = 5) preferred women only groups. WVs reported high satisfaction with SH, although women did indicate that women only groups may appeal to some WVs. Findings support the benefits of and satisfaction with virtual reintegration programs among WVs. They also emphasize the opportunity for future research focused on the implementation of virtual reintegration programs tailored to the growing population of WVs.Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov: D2907-R.