Posttraumatic Growth Moderates the Effect of Posttraumatic Stress on Quality of Life in U.S. Military Veterans with Life-Threatening Illness or Injury

Facilitating PTG among U.S. Veterans who experienced life-threatening illness or injury can help to bolster quality of life of those individuals. It is particularly important to facilitate PTG for those Veterans who, in addition to experiencing life-threatening illness or injury, have experienced PTSD during their service. It should not be expected that PTG will eliminate co-occurring distress, such as posttraumatic symptoms. This study indicated that across the five interactions that were studied, the participants who reported higher levels of PTG actually experienced higher QoL under increased levels of PTSD

Therapist and computer‐based brief interventions for drug use within a randomized controlled trial: effects on parallel trajectories of alcohol use, cannabis use and anxiety symptoms

Background and AimsDespite their high comorbidity, the effects of brief interventions (BI) to reduce cannabis use, alcohol use and anxiety symptoms have received little empirical attention. The aims of this study were to examine whether a therapist‐delivered BI (TBI) or computer‐guided BI (CBI) to address drug use, alcohol consumption (when relevant) and HIV risk behaviors, relative to enhanced usual care (EUC), was associated with reductions in parallel trajectories of alcohol use, cannabis use and anxiety symptoms, and whether demographic characteristics moderated reductions over time.DesignLatent growth curve modeling was used to examine joint trajectories of alcohol use, cannabis use and anxiety symptoms assessed at 3, 6 and 12 months after baseline enrollment.SettingHurley Medical Center Emergency Department (ED) in Flint, MI, USA.ParticipantsThe sample was 780 drug‐using adults (aged 18–60 years; 44% male; 52% black) randomly assigned to receive either a TBI, CBI or EUC through the HealthiER You study.Interventions and comparatorED‐delivered TBI and CBIs involved touchscreen‐delivered and audio‐assisted content. The TBI was administered by a Master’s‐level therapist, whereas the CBI was self‐administered using a virtual health counselor. EUC included a review of health resources brochures in the ED.MeasurementsAssessments of alcohol use (10‐item Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test), cannabis use (past 30‐day frequency) and anxiety symptoms (Brief Symptom Inventory‐18) occurred at baseline and 3‐, 6‐ and 12‐month follow‐up.FindingsTBI, relative to EUC, was associated with significant reductions in cannabis use [B = –0.49, standard error (SE) = 0.20, P < 0.05) and anxiety (B = –0.04, SE = 0.02, P < 0.05), but no main effect for alcohol use. Two of 18 moderation tests were significant: TBI significantly reduced alcohol use among males (B = –0.60, SE = 0.19, P < 0.01) and patients aged 18–25 years in the TBI condition showed significantly greater reductions in cannabis use relative to older patients (B = –0.78, SE = 0.31, P < 0.05). Results for CBI were non‐significant.ConclusionsEmergency department‐based therapist‐delivered brief interventions to address drug use, alcohol consumption (when relevant) and HIV risk behaviors may also reduce alcohol use, cannabis use and anxiety over time, accounting for the overlap of these processes.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152851/1/add14781.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152851/2/add14781_am.pd

Rehabilitation in Israel

This article briefly overviews the civilian and military rehabilitation systems in Israel, as described by two employees of those systems. Though Israeli systems provide comprehensive social services to individuals who were injured as civilians, Israeli rehabilitation practices appear to be more extensive for individuals who were injured while serving in the military

Employment as Promoted by the International Labor Organization

This article describes the historical and current focus of the International Labor Organization (ILO), which is a United Nations subsidiary that focuses on employment. The ILO has a history of policies related to vocational rehabilitation and disability, which are reviewed briefly. Selected ILO resources and publications are listed, which rehabilitation counselors and professionals may find useful for understanding disability legislation on a global level

Other Research -- Acceptance of Imperfection

Because the "ideal human"concept is culturally and socially bound, then there can be no universal agreement on what constitutes perfection. Thus, the concept of perfection is subjective. Further, no one individual can be perfect because humans are multidimensional and thus will always be surpassed by others on different qualities that the individual lacks. The relevance of acceptance of imperfection to disability studies is explored

Trauma rehabilitation after war and conflict : community and individual perspectives/ Edit.: Erin Martz

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Psychosocial Adaptation to Disability Within the Context of Positive Psychology: Philosophical Aspects and Historical Roots

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to review the conceptual and clinical similarities that exist between the principles of positive psychology and those underlying rehabilitation counseling and psychology, occupational rehabilitation, and those espoused by the field of psychosocial adaptation to chronic illness and disability (CID). Methods: Three themes were selected for review. These included the historical contributions of early scholars in the area of psychosocial adaptation to CID that later were indirectly infused into mainstream positive psychology; state and trait constructs that constitute much of the infrastructure of positive psychology and psychosocial adaptation to CID; and, finally, the philosophical congruencies between positive psychology and psychosocial adaptation to CID. Conclusion: The existing literature indicates that there is a substantial philosophical and conceptual overlap between the fields of positive psychology and psychosocial adaptation to CID. Since theoreticians and researchers, from both fields, often use differing terminology and definitions to describe similar concepts, as well as seek similar research goals, it would behoove both fields to seek a closer partnership in order to establish a meaningful dialogue that focuses on human strengths and virtues in the lives of people with CID