Deployment Psychology Blog

Research Update: 11 January 2024

The weekly Research Update contains the latest news, journal articles, and useful links from around the web. Some of this week's topics include: 
● The impact of the military lifestyle on adult military children relationships.
● Mental health apps and U.S. military veterans: Perceived importance and utilization of the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder app portfolio.
● Identifying predictors of the amount of veteran participation in cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia in the Veterans Affairs health care system.

Staff Perspective: An Unresolved Sleep Mystery - Segmented Sleep

Dr. Diana Dolan

You may have heard that sleep in the modern world is different. That due to our frenetic 24/7 society, we cram sleep into a shortened sleep window and then hurry on into our days. In contrast, or so I am told going around TikTok, historically people slept in “segmented sleep” in which they would retire to bed early, awaken and stay awake for a period of an hour up to several hours, and then return to sleep until rise time. Where is the evidence for this concept? Is this some previously unknown historical discovery brought to light, or just a now-digitalized urban legend? I do not profess to be an expert in this area, so let’s explore together

By the Numbers: 8 January 2024

68%

The percentage of active duty service members who are overweight, according to a recently published white paper by the American Security Project, a "nonpartisan organization created to educate the American public and the world about the changing nature of national security in the 21st Century". Other key findings in the white paper -- Combating Military Obesity: Stigma's Persistent Impact on Operational Readiness:

 

Research Update: 4 January 2024

The weekly Research Update contains the latest news, journal articles, and useful links from around the web. Some of this week's topics include: 
● Suicide Risk Among US Veterans With Military Service During the Vietnam War.
● Treating a common comorbidity: Pain outcomes following a 3-week cognitive processing therapy–based intensive treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder address.
● The impact of screening positive for hazardous alcohol use on the diagnostic accuracy of the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 among veterans.
 

Practically Speaking: Behind the Episode: Massed Treatments for PTSD - The Quickest Way Through the Fog?

Dr. Carin Lefkowitz

Even die-hard proponents of evidence-based psychotherapy (EBP) such as myself acknowledge that it comes with challenges. Of course, there are some patients who are uninterested in EBPs for a variety of reasons. But even motivated and engaged patients don’t always complete treatment or gain significant benefit. Research has long focused on how we can improve outcomes and completion rates for “non responders” and “dropouts.”

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