NCT07202325

Self-Help Intervention for Post 9/11 Veterans With Depression or PTSD Symptoms

A Self-Help Intervention to Improve Functioning, Symptoms, and Treatment Utilization Among Non-Treatment Engaged Post 9/11 Veterans With Depression or PTSD Symptoms

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 200 (estimated)
• Sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development · Federal
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

It is important to provide support and resources for the many post-9/11 Veterans with mental health symptoms and poor psychosocial functioning who do not engage in psychotherapy. One of the biggest reasons post-9/11 Veterans do not seek treatment is a preference to handle problems on their own. This study examines a self-help intervention that teaches Veterans healthy coping strategies they can use on their own and how to seek out recovery support services such as mental health treatment or whole-person care if they decide to do so in the future. This study will compare the impact of self-help and standard resources at improving mental health and resource utilization. Two hundred Veterans will complete 6 brief assessments across 40 weeks.

Detailed description

Many post-9/11 Veterans experience impaired psychosocial functioning, due in part to high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). Less than half of post-9/11 Veterans with these conditions seek mental health treatment, with key barriers being a preference to self-manage and lack of time. Veterans also report difficulty navigating the overwhelming array of resources available. To address this gap for post-9/11 Veterans with unmet mental health needs, the investigators developed a self-help intervention to provide skills for healthy self-management as well as curated guidance on recovery support services that address mental health and broader whole-person functional challenges. The investigators will compare the self-help intervention to a control condition of standard printed resource/treatment information as is provided in usual care. The objective of this clinical trial is to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention (vs. control) at improving psychosocial functional impairment, mental health outcomes, and utilization of cognitive-behavioral coping skills and recovery support services. The investigators will also explore use of coping skills and recovery support services as potential mediators of the intervention. A total of 200 Veterans from the Syracuse and Durham VA healthcare system will complete validated measures in 6 assessments over 40 weeks.

Conditions

• Depression
• Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Resilience Training for Veterans (REST-V)	A 6-week self-help intervention tailored for post-9/11 Veterans offering guidance on cognitive-behavioral self-management coping strategies plus when and how to access recovery support services including mental health treatment. Materials are sent once a week for 6 weeks, and participants can opt to receive weekly reminder text messages or up to 3 brief telephone support calls.
OTHER	Usual resources	Standard printed resource/treatment information provided in VHA usual care to post-9/11 Veterans. Covers similar domains as the intervention materials and provides information on a variety of VA and community resources for Veterans. Materials are sent once.

Timeline

• Start date: 2026-10-01
• Primary completion: 2029-07-31
• Completion: 2030-03-31
• First posted: 2025-10-01
• Last updated: 2025-10-01

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: United States