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Abstract
The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an existing "couples" adaptive sport and recreation program called Higher Ground developed by Sun Valley Adaptive Sports to reduce symptoms of PTSD, facilitate posttraumatic growth, and enhance marital satisfaction for veterans with PTSD and their significant others. The sample consisted of two experimental groups (Group A five couples, Group B six couples) and a control group (six couples). ANCOVA analysis indicated significant decreases in PTSD symptoms and increases in marital satisfaction among the experimental groups following participation in the recreation program. Findings support the use of recreation programs to help veterans with PTSD and their significant others, through specific program elements.
Keywords
couple leisure; marital satisfaction; posttraumatic growth; posttraumatic stress disorder; veterans
Since October 2001, approximately 1.6 million men and women have been deployed (Tanielian & Jaycox, 2008) to what some call the most damaging of wars both psychiatrically and physically (Aronson, 2005; Warden, 2006). The Research and Development (RAND) Center for Military Health Policy Research recently found that 18.5% of returning service members from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) meet the criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression (approximately 300,000 veterans) and only slightly more than half of those have sought and received "minimally adequate treatment" (Tanielian & Jaycox, 2008, p. 108).
Even though the majority of OIF/ OEF troops return from combat without any issues, approximately 26% of troops suffer from some mental health disorder (Hoge et al" 2004). Higher rates of survival from injuries and longer, morefrequent deployments in the OIF/OEF conflicts make the occurrence of mental health disorders more likely for OIF/ OEF troops. PTSD is one of the signature wounds of the OIF/OEF conflict (Tanielian & Jaycox, 2008). Its effects are numerous and have a devastating impact on a variety of important life domains, particularly family relationships. Veterans with PTSD have lower family functioning, poorer communication skills, tend to isolate themselves, and have more conflict in their relationships than veterans without PTSD (Evans, McHugh, Hopwood, & Watt, 2003; Friedman, 2006; Jordan et al., 1992). Veterans with PTSD are also less expressive, more violent, and twice as likely to have been divorced than veterans without PTSD (Carroll, Rueger, Foy, & Donahoe, 1985; Jordan, et...