Impairment in psychosocial functioning complicates readjustment to civilian life for many combat veterans with PTSD and is related to poorer quality of life. Hope theory posits that both a sense of agency and the ability to identify pathways toward achieving a goal underlie the process of behavior change. We developed an intensive outpatient program (the HOME program) in order to help combat veterans move toward values-driven activities and improve psychosocial functioning. We hypothesized that increased hope regarding veterans’ ability to manage and recover from PTSD symptoms may facilitate improvements in functioning apart from symptom reduction. The present study examines changes in hope, psychosocial functioning, and PTSD symptoms in a sample of HOME participants ( N = 33). Consistent with our hypothesis, results indicated that greater levels of hope were associated with improvements in adaptive behaviors (related to functioning) above and beyond symptom change. These preliminary findings suggest that therapeutic interventions that increase veterans’ perceptions of hope regarding recovery from PTSD may enhance psychosocial functioning. Additional research with larger samples is needed to further examine these relationships.

中文翻译：

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参加 PTSD 密集门诊计划后，对退伍军人的希望、症状严重程度和功能的检查

心理社会功能受损使许多患有 PTSD 的退伍军人重新调整平民生活变得复杂，并且与较差的生活质量有关。希望理论认为，行为改变过程的基础是代理感和确定实现目标的途径的能力。我们开发了一个强化门诊计划（HOME 计划），以帮助退伍军人转向价值观驱动的活动并改善心理社会功能。我们假设，对退伍军人管理和从 PTSD 症状中恢复的能力的希望增加可能会促进除症状减轻之外的功能改善。本研究调查了 HOME 参与者样本 (N = 33) 的希望、社会心理功能和 PTSD 症状的变化。与我们的假设一致，结果表明，更高水平的希望与超越症状变化的适应性行为（与功能相关）的改善有关。这些初步研究结果表明，增加退伍军人对从 PTSD 康复的希望的治疗干预可能会增强心理社会功能。需要更大样本的额外研究来进一步检查这些关系。