Family as a Total Package: Restoring and Enhancing Psychological Health for Citizen Soldiers and Families.

摘要

The overall objectives of this study are to: (I) demonstrate the effectiveness of the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program (YRRP); and (II) examine the role and potential of the YRRP as a post-deployment community- building platform to restore and to enhance the psychological health of service members and their family members. Assessments include short surveys at YRRP sites focusing on program elements, and telephone followup surveys identifying individual, family and community factors affecting service member and family reintegration. Data collection is scheduled to be completed in the middle of Year 3. Aim 1 analyses demonstrate the efficacy of the YRRP as a military family-centered reintegration training program. Preliminary findings show an overall increase in the knowledge and ability aspects of self-efficacy regarding post-deployment reintegration issues over the course of the YRRP event, and a further overall increase after attendance at a second YRRP event. Further, the initial gain of family members is greater than soldiers. There was no improvement in attitude toward stigma of mental illness as a result of attending YRRP. These preliminary findings are consistent with a previous pilot study. Overall, the results point to the importance of large-scale secondary prevention program implementation for both National Guard members and their families.