Exploring Deployment Stress and Reintegration in Army National Guard Chaplains

February 18, 2015 updated by: US Department of Veterans Affairs
The purpose of this 2-year pilot study is to explore the impact of deployment on the psychosocial and health characteristics and reintegration of Military Chaplains, specifically those of the Army National Guard (ARNG). This pilot will serve as the foundation for subsequent investigations of chaplains from multiple branches of the military. In addition to spiritual and religious support, Military Chaplains play a key role in the behavioral health of deployed service-members, routinely participating in suicide prevention training, conducting critical event debriefing, and identifying service-members at risk for combat and operational stress reactions1. A high risk group for exposure to trauma2, Military Chaplains have suffered brain injuries, gunshot wounds and blast injuries in OEF/OIF Theater3. In addition, many report combat related stress issues such as compassion fatigue, PTSD, and reintegration issues3. While the traumatic experiences of OEF/OIF deployed troops have been well documented, the effects on military chaplains caring for these service-members have received little attention in the research to date. We are collaborating with the National Guard Chaplain Corps Leadership on this program of research. The aims of this 2-year pilot cross-sectional study focus on describing and exploring deployment and its impact on psychosocial, health characteristics and reintegration of ARNG chaplains using a mixed method approach (web-based survey, in-depth interviews, social network analysis).

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

102

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Florida
      • Tampa, Florida, United States, 33637-1022
        • James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

ARNG Chaplains who have ever/never been deployed to OEF/OIF combat theaters

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • current, active members of ARNG during timeframe of OIF/OEF/OND
  • Chaplains
  • able to be contacted by email for survey explanation and participation
  • consent to participate in interview or network questionnaire

Exclusion Criteria:

  • not current, active members of ARNG during timeframe of OIF/OEF/OND
  • not Chaplains
  • not able to be contacted by email for survey explanation and participation
  • do not consent to participate in interview or network questionnaire

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Group 1
ARNG Chaplains

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
observational
Time Frame: 2 years
2 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Karen Besterman-Dahan, PhD MA BS, James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

April 1, 2011

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2013

Study Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 5, 2011

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 6, 2011

First Posted (Estimate)

April 7, 2011

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

February 19, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 18, 2015

Last Verified

February 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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