scholarly journals Music Therapy With Military Populations: A Scoping Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori F Gooding ◽  
Diane G Langston

Abstract Music therapy treatment is increasingly being used to promote health, enhance quality of life, and improve functioning in military personnel, but evidence on the use of music interventions with military service members is still emerging. The purpose of this scoping review was to synthesize the available literature regarding music therapy treatment with military personnel by identifying the types of information available, key characteristics, and gaps in the knowledge base. The review was completed using the methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley. A total of 27 publications met the criteria for review. The results included anecdotal reports, white papers/ briefs, case studies, historical reviews, clinical program descriptions, and research studies. Both active duty and veteran service members were represented in the literature, and post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury were the most commonly listed conditions among those served. Music therapy services were offered in both group and individual formats, and drumming was the most common music intervention cited. Most publications accurately represented music therapy, and the historical reviews highlighted the connection between the development of the field of music therapy and the use of music with military personnel. Several gaps were identified, including a lack of specificity in reporting, low levels of evidence, and limited inclusion of women service members.

2019 ◽  
pp. 271-287
Author(s):  
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Andrew Lewandowski ◽  
Lindell K. Weaver ◽  
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...  

Purpose: Military service members often report both affective and vestibular complaints after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), but associations between symptoms and vestibular deficits can be subtle and inconsistent. Methods: From two complementary studies, one of military service members with persistent post-concussive symptoms after mTBI (NCT01611194) and the other of adult volunteers with no history of brain injury (NCT01925963), affective symptoms were compared to postural control, gait, otolith and visuospatial function. Results: The studies enrolled 71 participants with mTBI and 75 normative controls. Participants with mTBI had significantly reduced postural equilibrium on the sensory organization test (SOT), and more so in those with high anxiety or post-traumatic stress. Cervical and ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMP; oVEMP) showed prolonged latencies in mTBI participants compared to controls; oVEMPs were significantly delayed in mTBI participants with high anxiety, post-traumatic stress or depression. A subset of the mTBI group had abnormal tandem gait and high anxiety. Anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and depression did not correlate with performance on the 6-Minute Walk Test, visuospatial neuropsychological measures, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale in the mTBI group. Conclusions: In this study military service members with mTBI reported affective symptoms, concurrently with vestibular-balance concerns. Worse scores on affective measures were associated with abnormal findings on measures of postural control, gait and otolith function.


2016 ◽  
Vol 132 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie A. Cederbaum ◽  
Sherrie L. Wilcox ◽  
Kathrine Sullivan ◽  
Carrie Lucas ◽  
Ashley Schuyler

Objectives: Although many service members successfully cope with exposure to stress and traumatic experiences, others have symptoms of depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and anxiety; contextual factors may account for the variability in outcomes from these experiences. This work sought to understand mechanisms through which social support influences the mental health of service members and whether dyadic functioning mediates this relationship. Methods: We collected cross-sectional data as part of a larger study conducted in 2013; 321 military personnel who had at least 1 deployment were included in these analyses. Surveys were completed online; we collected data on demographic characteristics, social support, mental health measures (depression, PTSD, and anxiety), and dyadic functioning. We performed process modeling through mediation analysis. Results: The direct effects of social support on the mental health of military personnel were limited; however, across all types of support networks, greater social support was significantly associated with better dyadic functioning. Dyadic functioning mediated the relationships between social support and depression/PTSD only when social support came from nonmilitary friends or family; dyadic functioning mediated social support and anxiety only when support came from family. We found no indirect effects of support from military peers or military leaders. Conclusion: Findings here highlight the need to continue to explore ways in which social support, particularly from family and nonmilitary-connected peers, can bolster healthy intimate partner relationships and, in turn, improve the well-being of military service members who are deployed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 185 (5-6) ◽  
pp. e711-e718 ◽  
Author(s):  
David L Chin ◽  
John E Zeber

Abstract Introduction Studies examining the mental health outcomes of military personnel deployed into combat zones have focused on the risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder conferred by mild or moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, other mental health outcomes among veterans who sustained critical combat injuries have not been described. Materials and Method We examined the associations of moderate and severe TBI and combat injury with the risk for anxiety and mood disorders, adjustment reactions, schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, cognitive disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of U.S. military service members critically injured in combat during military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan from February 1, 2002, to February 1, 2011. Health care encounters from (1) the Department of Defense (DoD) Trauma Registry (TR), (2) acute and ambulatory care in military facilities, and (3) civilian facilities are reimbursed by Tricare. Service members who sustained severe combat injury require critical care. We estimated the risk of mental health outcomes using risk-adjusted logit models for demographic and clinical factors. We explored the relationship between TBI and the total number of mental health diagnoses. Results Of the 4,980 subjects who met inclusion criteria, most injuries occurred among members of the Army (72%) or Marines (25%), with mean (SD) age of 25.5(6.1) years. The prevalence of moderate or severe TBI was 31.6% with explosion as the most common mechanism of injury (78%). We found 71% of the cohort was diagnosed with at least one poor mental health condition, and the adjusted risk conferred by TBI ranged from a modest increase for anxiety disorder (odds ratio, 1.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11–1.45) to a large increase for cognitive disorder (odds ratio, 3.24; 95% CI, 2.78–3.77). We found TBI was associated with an increased number of mental health diagnoses (incidence rate ratio, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.42–1.63). Conclusions Combat-associated TBI may have a broad effect on several mental health conditions among critically injured combat casualties. Early recognition and treatment for trauma-associated mental health are crucial to improving outcomes among service personnel as they transition to post-deployment care in the DoD, Department of Veterans Affairs, or community health systems.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S724-S724
Author(s):  
S. Giorgi ◽  
N. Guguahsvili ◽  
T. Oniani ◽  
G. Kanaldarishvili ◽  
E. Lelashvili

BackgroundThe following study shows that PTSD, depression and anxiety present actual and urgent problem in military field. These disorders appear to be highly co-morbid that results in much more complicated treatment process and outcome. Service members of Georgian armed forces participate in various international peacekeeping operations on the regular basis, though there are no researches conducted so far to provide evidence for mental health problem prevalence in Georgian deployed military personnel.MethodCollection of the data took place during the period of 2014–2015 years after six months of service members returning from the international peacekeeping mission back to their homes. The sample for this research were represented by 2799 servicemen who actively engaged in ISAF peacekeeping missions. All of them were male, with average age: M = 29.3 (SD = 6.3). The data for the following research were collected using self-administered assessment measures, namely PCL-5 for PTSD screening and PHQ for depression and Anxiety and somatic complaints assessment.ResultsPTSD appeared to be significantly predicted by range/level of anxiety and depression symptom urgency, nevertheless after joint/combine integration of these variables in one regressional equation, just symptoms of depression remained as statistically reliable explanatory factor for the significant percentage of the somatic symptom range variation.ConclusionIt would be wise to recommend mental health care specialists particularly to bear in mind the possibility of co-existing depression and anxiety symptoms in patients with PTSD.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 1078-1090 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Lubens ◽  
Tim A. Bruckner

Objective: We aim to contextualize the growing body of research on the sequelae of military service in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. We employ a social–ecological (SE) framework for the taxonomy of military health research and classify risk as arising from the individual, family, community, and the institutional levels. We intend for this review to inform enhanced health promotion efforts in military communities. Data Source: Articles reviewed were extracted from Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria: Research focused on somatic and psychological sequelae of combat deployment published from 2001—the year the war in Afghanistan began—through the end of 2014. We excluded studies of non-US military personnel, other systematic reviews, meta-analyses, book chapters, and theoretical papers. Data Extraction: We examined and summarized the aims, participants, methods, study design, SE framework tier, risk factors, and health outcomes. Data Synthesis: Studies were categorized according to SE tier, whether they focused on somatic, behavioral, or psychological outcomes, and by risk factor. Results: Of the 352 peer-reviewed papers, 84% focused on war’s sequelae on the index military personnel, and 75% focused on mental or behavioral health outcomes—mostly on post-traumatic stress disorder. We find comparatively little research focusing on the family, community, or institutional tiers. Conclusions: We know relatively little about how family and community respond to the return of personnel from combat deployment; how family resources affect the health of returning military personnel; and how a war’s persistence presents challenges for federal, state, and local agencies to meet military health-care needs. Such work is especially salient as US troops return home from war—particularly in communities where there are substantial military populations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 353-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marygrace Berberian ◽  
Melissa S Walker ◽  
Girija Kaimal

This study involved a thematic analysis of montage paintings and of related clinical records of 240 active-duty military service members collected during their art therapy treatment for traumatic brain injury and underlying psychological health concerns, including post-traumatic stress, at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Congruent with other research findings, the qualitative analyses of this study suggest that the group art therapy experiences fostered improvement in interpersonal relatedness, hopefulness and gratification for the service members in treatment, aiding in externalisation, progressive exposure and construction of a trauma narrative imperative for recovery. The mixed media nature of the montage painting supported the expression of a range of postcombat symptoms. Results from this study highlighted the complexity of military culture, necessitating a broader scope of analyses for how art therapy helps service members express and communicate their challenges to care providers, peers and family as well as regulate emotion in the short and long term.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 232-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison M. Cogan ◽  
Janice Huang ◽  
Joyce Philip

The purpose of this study is to describe important features of occupational therapy practice for treatment of military service members with chronic symptoms and a history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in a military concussion care clinic from service members’ perspectives with support from occupational therapy practitioners. Two series of focus groups were conducted with service members with chronic mTBI-related symptoms ( n = 6) and practitioners ( n = 5). Data were analyzed concurrently with collection. We identified five main themes: therapeutic relationship, consistent inclusion of family members, combat versus noncombat injuries, loss of military identity, and assessment against population norms. The findings of this study suggest that service members’ evaluations of occupational therapy are based on the overall experience of the encounter, centered by the therapeutic relationship, rather than specific intervention strategies or technology.


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