Readiness to change PTSD symptoms and other problems among veterans participating in a motivation enhancement group

The present study was undertaken as a preliminary examination of inpatient combat veterans' response to the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Motivation Enhancement (ME) Group, a brief intervention that targets beliefs about the need to change PTSD symptoms and comorbid problems. There were two primary research questions: (1) What PTSD symptoms and related problem behaviors are patients unsure about the need to change? (2) By the end of the PTSD ME Group, do patients decide that they need to change these potential problem behaviors more frequently than deciding they do not need to change them? Participants were 243 male combat veterans who attended the PTSD ME Group during their stay in a 60-day VA inpatient PTSD treatment program. Our findings indicated that patients were ambivalent or lacked awareness about the need to change many PTSD symptoms and other problematic behaviors, particularly anger. However, patients often became more willing to acknowledge these problems during treatment. Despite the limitations of study, these results indicate the potential value of further research on the relationship between readiness to change and posttreatment functioning, and on the differential effect of adding a motivation-based intervention component to conventional PTSD treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)