The Transition Mapping Study -Understanding the Transition Process for Service Personnel Returning to Civilian Life
Abstract: Since the Armed Forces Covenant was published in 2000, there has been increased interest in the process of helping Service people transition from the Armed Forces into civilian life. In 2006 this process was formalised when the Ministry of Defence published its Strategy for Veterans. The Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT), which has been set up to improve the transition process, commissioned The Futures Company to review existing research, to understand how the transition process currently works, how it is viewed by stakeholders and by recent Service leavers, to develop a model that quantified the costs of poor transition to the UK as a whole, and to make recommendations on how to reduce the number of poor transitions. The research focussed on fulltime personnel, not reservists. Transitioning from military service into civilian life is inevitable for almost all Armed Forces personnel; only a tiny proportion proceeds through to a full career. Most transitions are successful. One of the reasons for this is because of the resources invested in them by the Armed Forces. At the same time, a “good transition” is undefined. For the purposes of this project we developed with help from stakeholders the following definition: “A good transition is one that enables ex-Service personnel to be sufficiently resilient to adapt successfully to civilian life, both now and in the future. This resilience includes financial, psychological, and emotional resilience, and encompasses the ex-Service person and their immediate families.”
Abstract: Objective: The present study is a retrospective quasi-experimental study to evaluate the effectiveness of the Warrior PATHH (WP) program at improving posttraumatic growth (PTG) outcomes and reducing PTSD symptoms compared to a waitlist control among a sample of Veterans. Method: Participants (n = 164) were U.S. military Veterans with a history of trauma. Participants were either undergoing the Warrior PATHH program or a waitlist. Primary outcome measures were administered at baseline and at 90-day follow-up and consisted of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory – Expanded (PTGI-X) and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). Secondary outcome measures assessed psychosocial functioning and included measures of depression and anxiety symptoms, sleep, wellbeing, and social support. Results: Significant differences were observed between groups on the PTGI-X (F(1, 205) = 23.667, p < .001, partial η2 = 0.103), and the PCL-5 (F(1, 205) = 262.460, p < .001, partial η2 = 0.561) with the WP group showing significant positive psychological change following a traumatic event as measured by the PTGI-X and decreased PTSD symptoms as measured by the PCL-5 compared to those in the waitlist condition. Those in the treatment arm also demonstrated gains to psychosocial functioning. Conclusions: Consistent with previous research, participants in the Warrior PATHH program exhibited significant increases in PTG outcomes, decreased PTSD symptoms, and broad improvements to psychosocial functioning. These findings suggest it is an effective training program to foster PTG outcomes among Veterans. This study is unique as it is the first to compare the effects of WP programming with a sample of waitlisted Veterans.