Meaningful Employment Among Veterans with Co-Occurring Substance Use and Mental Health Disorders.

: To examine associations between employment-based self-regulatory processes and meaningful employment attainment among veterans with co-occurring conditions. : A survey was administered to a national Qualtrics panel of 534 employed veterans self-reporting mental health and substance use conditions. We tested whether career exploration, goal clarity, job-searching skills, and self-regulation skills explained unique variance in meaningful employment beyond other relevant predictors: mental health symptoms, alcohol and drug use severity, economic constraints, marginalization, job prestige, and employment status.

Understanding barriers and optimizing socio-cognitive assessment in the diagnosis of neurocognitive disorders.

Harmonized neuropsychological assessment for neurocognitive disorders (NCDs) is an urgent priority in clinics. Neuropsychology assessments in NCDs seldom include tests exploring social cognitive skills. In 2022, we launched the SIGNATURE initiative to optimize socio-cognitive assessment in NCDs.

A Visit-Associated Logistics Framework Describing Challenges Faced by Caregivers of Older Adults.

Unpaid family caregivers are assuming increasing levels of care as the healthcare system prioritizes aging in place over institutionalized care. Among their many responsibilities, coordinating in-person clinical visits is a critically important yet understudied area. This logistical aspect of caregiving for older adults is complex as it is influenced by many different medical-psycho-social factors.

Feasibility of a Career Development Intervention for Veterans in Vocational Rehabilitation: Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Veterans with psychiatric disorders want additional career development services to support their recovery and pursuit of meaningful employment. However, no career counseling programs have been designed for this specific population. We developed the Purposeful Pathways intervention to fill this need.

Chronic pain and problematic substance use for veterans during COVID-19: the moderating role of psychological flexibility.

Background: Chronic pain and problematic substance use are commonly co-occurring and highly detrimental issues that are especially prevalent in U.S. veteran populations.

A quantitative and qualitative examination of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. veterans with self-reported anxiety and alcohol use disorder.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic generated concerns about rising stress and alcohol use, especially in U.S. veterans who experience high rates of anxiety disorders (ADs), alcohol use disorder (AUD), and dual AD+AUD diagnoses.

Understanding Variation in Adoption of Video Telehealth and Implications for Health Care Systems.

Background: Telehealth has rapidly expanded since COVID-19. Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the largest integrated health care system in the United States, was well-positioned to incorporate telehealth across specialties due to existing policies and infrastructure.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to investigate predictors of occupational therapy (OT) practitioners' adoption of video telehealth.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Self-Reported Substance Use, Well-Being, and Functioning Among United States Veterans: A Cross-Sectional Study.

As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps the globe, many veterans with substance use issues have faced the closure of treatment facilities, mandates to shelter in place, and social distancing measures. To better understand their pandemic experiences, substance use changes, and functioning, a survey was nationally administered to a sample of United States veterans reporting substance use issues during the pandemic. The purpose of this cross-sectional online survey for veterans ( = 409) was to report on COVID-19 experiences, safety behaviors, and infection experiences while also investigating the relationship among addictive behaviors, mental and physical health, and COVID-19 impact.

Examining the Clinical Correlates of Overeating and Binge-Eating Behaviors Among U. S. Veterans.

Introduction: Pressure to meet U.S. military weight requirements during service may predispose some service members to develop psychiatric disorders such as eating disorders or unhealthy eating behaviors, which may persist after military discharge.

Longitudinal study: understanding the lived experience of couples across the trajectory of dementia.

Background: The longitudinal study, "Couples Lived Experiences," focuses on whether and how relationship characteristics of older couples change with the cognitive decline of one member of the couple, and how these changes affect each individual's emotional and physical health outcomes. Until now, most psychosocial research in dementia has focused either on the person with dementia (PWD) or the caregiver separately. The previous literature examining relationship characteristics and their role in outcomes for the caregiver and PWD is scant and suffers from methodological issues that limit the understanding of which relationship characteristics most influence outcomes for caregivers and care-receivers and what other factors may mitigate or exacerbate their effects.

Buprenorphine Naloxone and Extended Release Injectable Naltrexone for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder Among a Veteran Patient Sample: A Retrospective Chart Review.

Previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of both extended-release injectable naltrexone (XR-NTX) and buprenorphine/naloxone (BUP-NX) in the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). However, studies using real-world samples with multiple medical and psychiatric comorbidities are lacking. The study's primary aims were to: (1) compare clinical presentations in an inclusive sample of OUD-diagnosed US military veterans receiving XR-NTX and BUP-NX, and (2) investigate differences in 90-day treatment outcomes between these two groups.

Motivational interviewing: Key ingredients associated with taking a step toward employment.

This study sought to identify key ingredients of motivational interviewing (MI) associated with taking a step in the direction of competitive employment (CE) for unemployed veterans with serious mental illness (SMI). Data were analyzed from 195 audiotaped MI sessions targeted to employment conducted with 39 veterans with SMI. Sessions were coded and analyzed to identify components of MI practice predictive of taking any step in the direction of CE (e.

Harmonizing neuropsychological assessment for mild neurocognitive disorders in Europe.

Introduction: Harmonized neuropsychological assessment for neurocognitive disorders, an international priority for valid and reliable diagnostic procedures, has been achieved only in specific countries or research contexts.

Methods: To harmonize the assessment of mild cognitive impairment in Europe, a workshop (Geneva, May 2018) convened stakeholders, methodologists, academic, and non-academic clinicians and experts from European, US, and Australian harmonization initiatives.

Results: With formal presentations and thematic working-groups we defined a standard battery consistent with the U.

Post-9/11 military veterans' adjustment to civilian life over time following separation from service.

Objectives: US military veterans face many challenges in transitioning to civilian life; little information is available regarding veterans' reintegration experiences over time. The current study characterized veterans' postdeployment stressful life events and concurrent psychosocial wellbeing over one year and determined how stressors and wellbeing differ by demographic factors.

Methods: Recent Post-911 veterans (n = 402) were assessed approximately every three months for 1 year.

Screening for Gambling Disorder in VA Primary Care Behavioral Health: A Pilot Study.

The current pilot study assessed the prevalence of at-risk/problem gambling using the Brief Biosocial Gambling Screen (BBGS) among a sample of U.S. military veterans seeking mental health treatment services in a primary care medical setting at a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in the Northeast.

Posting Sexually Explicit Images or Videos of Oneself Online Is Associated With Impulsivity and Hypersexuality but Not Measures of Psychopathology in a Sample of US Veterans.

Introduction: Sending sexually explicit text messages ("sexting") is prevalent among US adults; however, the mental health correlates of this behavior among adults have not been studied adequately. Furthermore, there are few studies examining the related but distinct behavior of posting sexually explicit photos or videos of oneself online (posting sexual images [PSI]) and the mental health correlates of this behavior.

Aim: To examine associations between sexting, PSI, impulsivity, hypersexuality, and measures of psychopathology.

It all adds up: Addressing the roles of cumulative traumatic experiences on military veterans.

Background: Posttraumatic stress symptoms are common after discharge from military service in male and female Post-9/11 veterans, many of whom experienced combat.

Objective: This is a study of the impacts of childhood and adult assaults are studied both separately and together on the level of posttraumatic stress symptoms in male and female Post-9/11 veterans (N = 850) after discharge from military service.

Participants And Setting: This cross-sectional secondary analysis uses data from the baseline interviews of the Survey of Experiences of Returning Veterans (SERV) cohort study.

Home-Based Video Telemedicine for Dementia Management.

: Persons with dementia face barriers to attending in-person medical care. Despite the potential for video telemedicine to ameliorate these barriers, little is known about in-home video telemedicine for dementia.: Outpatients of a dementia clinic were invited to participate in in-home video telemedicine, and reasons for enrolling or declining were tracked.

Psychopathology and Hypersexuality among Veterans with and without Histories of Alcohol-use Disorders.

Background And Objectives: Little research has examined the clinical characteristics of U.S. post-9/11 military veterans coping with alcohol problems.

Cannabis use, problem-gambling severity, and psychiatric disorders: Data from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.

Cannabis use and related disorders are common in adults and frequently co-occur with subsyndromal and pathological gambling. However, understanding how cannabis use may moderate relationships between problem-gambling severity and psychiatric disorders remains poorly understood. Data from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions ( = 43,093 adults) were examined to investigate how cannabis use moderated associations between problem-gambling severity (with gambling groups based on the 10 inclusionary criteria for pathological gambling) and Axis I and Axis II psychiatric disorders.

Tobacco Use and Cognitive Functioning in Veterans of the Conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tobacco use is a prevalent problem in the general population as well as among military veterans. Despite the fact that tobacco users are at an increased risk of many medical and psychiatric comorbidities, the risk of cognitive impairment in younger active tobacco users is less studied. Military veterans from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan (n = 113) were administered a neuropsychological protocol.

Gambling-related cognitive distortions predict level of function among US veterans seeking treatment for gambling disorders.

Background And Objectives: Gambling Disorder (GD) is characterized by recurrent gambling behavior that is associated with significant impairment and distress, high psychiatric comorbidities, and high functional disability. The military veteran population appears particularly susceptible to developing the disorder, but relatively little has been studied among this population. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the clinical psychopathologies and comorbidities of veterans seeking treatment for problem gambling and how problem gambling may impact functioning.

Gender-Specific Risk Factors for Psychopathology and Reduced Functioning in a Post-9/11 Veteran Sample.

U.S. combat veterans frequently encounter challenges after returning from deployment, and these challenges may lead to difficulties in psychological and social functioning.