An Investigation into the use of compassion-focused interventions for moral injury and post-traumatic stress disorder in military veterans

Abstract

The first chapter details a meta-analysis exploring the relationship between self compassion (SC) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among veterans. Searches were conducted using PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Web of Science, Google Scholar, ProQuest Military, and ProQuest PTSD pubs. Twelve studies were included in the review. Random effects meta-analyses investigated associations between SC and PTSD, and effectiveness of SC interventions on PTSD and SC among veterans. The first meta-analysis included eight studies revealing a significant positive relationship between SC and PTSD (r = -.525, p < 0.001), the second meta-analysis included four studies revealing non-significant findings for SC interventions on PTSD (d = -.398, p = .058), and exploratory analyses revealed SC interventions significantly increased SC levels among veterans (d = -.369, p = .042). The study tentatively indicated the use of SC within veteran specific PTSD treatments. Future research is needed using RCT designs whilst investigating the relationship between SC and PTSD in veterans. The second chapter is an empirical paper exploring the relationship between psychological distress, alcohol use, the inhibitors and facilitators of compassion, and the three flows of compassion on moral injury (MI) in veterans. A total of 127 participants completed online measures of MI, psychological distress, alcohol use, shame, fears of compassion, self-criticising and self-reassurance, and the three flows of compassion. Bivariate correlations and a hierarchical multiple regression determined relationships between the aforementioned variables, and whether these predicted MI among veterans. Younger age, lower rank, psychological distress, alcohol use, and the facets of compassion were all significantly related to MI in veterans, however these variables did not predict MI. Shame was found as the biggest predictor of MI in veterans, followed by lower rank. The findings indicate strong relationships between the facets of compassion and MI in veterans, highlighting the potential clinical utility of including compassion within MI interventions.

More information

Identifiers

Catalogue record

Export record