Tracy Herrmann, Joanna Ellen Bettmann, Adam Hanley, Annelise Jolley, Ryan Lackner, Elena Nazarenko
{"title":"Comparison of indoor versus outdoor mindfulness interventions for veterans: A pilot randomized controlled trial.","authors":"Tracy Herrmann, Joanna Ellen Bettmann, Adam Hanley, Annelise Jolley, Ryan Lackner, Elena Nazarenko","doi":"10.1037/ser0000976","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Veterans' reluctance to engage in mental health treatment coupled with high attrition in such treatment should motivate practitioners and researchers to create innovative ways to treat veterans. Nature-based interventions show promise as a means for addressing veterans' mental health needs. The present study aimed to test the feasibility and acceptability of a manualized nature-based mindfulness intervention for veterans with mental illness. The authors hypothesized that veterans participating in the outdoor, nature-based intervention would report greater reductions in posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and psychological distress compared to those participating in an indoor mindfulness intervention. Recruited from a Veterans Affairs health care center, 41 veterans with diagnosed mental illness were randomized to either a six-session outdoor group mindfulness intervention or a comparable six-session group mindfulness intervention delivered indoors at the Veterans Affairs. A <i>t</i> test and chi-square tests were used to examine treatment session attendance and treatment completer status. An intent-to-treat framework was used to assess between-group differences by fitting separate generalized linear mixed models with robust estimation for the outcomes of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, psychological distress, sense of restoration, and nature connectedness. Results showed that, while the average number of training sessions attended did not statistically differ by group, the number of treatment completers did; there were more treatment completers in the outdoor group. Additionally, linear mixed modeling with robust estimation revealed a significant Condition × Time interaction for posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. The findings of this research demonstrate that nature-based interventions show promise as an approach to treating veteran mental illness while combating mental health care stigma and increasing treatment completion rates. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":20749,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Services","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Psychological Services","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000976","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Veterans' reluctance to engage in mental health treatment coupled with high attrition in such treatment should motivate practitioners and researchers to create innovative ways to treat veterans. Nature-based interventions show promise as a means for addressing veterans' mental health needs. The present study aimed to test the feasibility and acceptability of a manualized nature-based mindfulness intervention for veterans with mental illness. The authors hypothesized that veterans participating in the outdoor, nature-based intervention would report greater reductions in posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and psychological distress compared to those participating in an indoor mindfulness intervention. Recruited from a Veterans Affairs health care center, 41 veterans with diagnosed mental illness were randomized to either a six-session outdoor group mindfulness intervention or a comparable six-session group mindfulness intervention delivered indoors at the Veterans Affairs. A t test and chi-square tests were used to examine treatment session attendance and treatment completer status. An intent-to-treat framework was used to assess between-group differences by fitting separate generalized linear mixed models with robust estimation for the outcomes of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, psychological distress, sense of restoration, and nature connectedness. Results showed that, while the average number of training sessions attended did not statistically differ by group, the number of treatment completers did; there were more treatment completers in the outdoor group. Additionally, linear mixed modeling with robust estimation revealed a significant Condition × Time interaction for posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. The findings of this research demonstrate that nature-based interventions show promise as an approach to treating veteran mental illness while combating mental health care stigma and increasing treatment completion rates. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
期刊介绍:
Psychological Services publishes high-quality data-based articles on the broad range of psychological services. While the Division"s focus is on psychologists in "public service," usually defined as being employed by a governmental agency, Psychological Services covers the full range of psychological services provided in any service delivery setting. Psychological Services encourages submission of papers that focus on broad issues related to psychotherapy outcomes, evaluations of psychological service programs and systems, and public policy analyses.