Traumatized German soldiers with moral injury – value-based cognitive-behavioral group therapy to treat war-related shame
IntroductionDuring deployment, soldiers are confronted with potentially morally injurious events. In many cases, these events violate their personal values and belief systems, resulting in feelings of anger, alienation, guilt, and shame. The psychological distress caused by such transgressions is de...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1173466/full |
| _version_ | 1827898893828882432 |
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| author | Caroline Diekmann Caroline Diekmann Leonie Issels Christina Alliger-Horn Heinrich Rau Christian Fischer Thomas Thiel Gerd Willmund Peter Zimmermann |
| author_facet | Caroline Diekmann Caroline Diekmann Leonie Issels Christina Alliger-Horn Heinrich Rau Christian Fischer Thomas Thiel Gerd Willmund Peter Zimmermann |
| author_sort | Caroline Diekmann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionDuring deployment, soldiers are confronted with potentially morally injurious events. In many cases, these events violate their personal values and belief systems, resulting in feelings of anger, alienation, guilt, and shame. The psychological distress caused by such transgressions is defined as moral injury. It remains unclear to date, which therapeutic interventions are most appropriate for addressing this specific psychological condition. This study examines the effectiveness of value-based cognitive-behavioral group therapy combining elements of cognitive-behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, spiritual care, and adaptive disclosure therapy.Materials and methodsThis controlled study uses the Compass of Shame Scale to assess symptom severity among participants both before and after a three-week inpatient group therapy regimen for moral injury. An intervention group (n = 45) was compared to a waiting-list control group (n = 40). A one-way between subjects ANOVA was conducted to determine the differences between the two measurement points in the intervention group compared to the control group. A positive ethics vote from the Humboldt University Berlin (Charité) was available (No.EA1/092/15).ResultsA significant difference was found on the shame-associated maladaptive strategies subscales of attack self (F (1, 83) = 5.942, p = 0.017, Cohen’s f = 0,27), withdrawal (F (1, 83) = 8.263, p = 0.005, Cohen’s f = 0,32), and attack others (F (1, 83) = 10.552, p = 0.002, Cohen’s f = 0,36) of the Compass of Shame Scale between the intervention group and the control group at the p < 0.05 level in the pre- and post-treatment (t1-t2) comparison.ConclusionThis study suggests that the special therapeutic focus in cognitive-behavioral group therapy can alter shame-based maladaptive coping behaviors in response to war-related moral injury. This study provides further evidence that therapeutic approaches – through fostering a reconciliatory, compassionate, and forgiving approach toward oneself and others – target the underlying mechanisms of moral injury. Therefore, value-based cognitive-behavioral interventions should be considered as a standard element of trauma care in a military setting. Future studies should further examine such interventions in randomized control trials. It would also be particularly valuable for future studies to include a follow-up time point. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T23:10:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f249798b9fa24a21acb1b8b9ac4f3391 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-0640 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T23:10:08Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj.art-f249798b9fa24a21acb1b8b9ac4f33912023-07-18T08:00:38ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychiatry1664-06402023-07-011410.3389/fpsyt.2023.11734661173466Traumatized German soldiers with moral injury – value-based cognitive-behavioral group therapy to treat war-related shameCaroline Diekmann0Caroline Diekmann1Leonie Issels2Christina Alliger-Horn3Heinrich Rau4Christian Fischer5Thomas Thiel6Gerd Willmund7Peter Zimmermann8Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology, Military Hospital Berlin, Berlin, GermanyCharité - Berlin University of Medicine, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology, Military Hospital Berlin, Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology, Military Hospital Berlin, Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology, Military Hospital Berlin, Berlin, GermanyMilitary Chaplaincy Central Office, Berlin, GermanyMilitary Chaplaincy Central Office, Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology, Military Hospital Berlin, Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology, Military Hospital Berlin, Berlin, GermanyIntroductionDuring deployment, soldiers are confronted with potentially morally injurious events. In many cases, these events violate their personal values and belief systems, resulting in feelings of anger, alienation, guilt, and shame. The psychological distress caused by such transgressions is defined as moral injury. It remains unclear to date, which therapeutic interventions are most appropriate for addressing this specific psychological condition. This study examines the effectiveness of value-based cognitive-behavioral group therapy combining elements of cognitive-behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, spiritual care, and adaptive disclosure therapy.Materials and methodsThis controlled study uses the Compass of Shame Scale to assess symptom severity among participants both before and after a three-week inpatient group therapy regimen for moral injury. An intervention group (n = 45) was compared to a waiting-list control group (n = 40). A one-way between subjects ANOVA was conducted to determine the differences between the two measurement points in the intervention group compared to the control group. A positive ethics vote from the Humboldt University Berlin (Charité) was available (No.EA1/092/15).ResultsA significant difference was found on the shame-associated maladaptive strategies subscales of attack self (F (1, 83) = 5.942, p = 0.017, Cohen’s f = 0,27), withdrawal (F (1, 83) = 8.263, p = 0.005, Cohen’s f = 0,32), and attack others (F (1, 83) = 10.552, p = 0.002, Cohen’s f = 0,36) of the Compass of Shame Scale between the intervention group and the control group at the p < 0.05 level in the pre- and post-treatment (t1-t2) comparison.ConclusionThis study suggests that the special therapeutic focus in cognitive-behavioral group therapy can alter shame-based maladaptive coping behaviors in response to war-related moral injury. This study provides further evidence that therapeutic approaches – through fostering a reconciliatory, compassionate, and forgiving approach toward oneself and others – target the underlying mechanisms of moral injury. Therefore, value-based cognitive-behavioral interventions should be considered as a standard element of trauma care in a military setting. Future studies should further examine such interventions in randomized control trials. It would also be particularly valuable for future studies to include a follow-up time point.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1173466/fullmoral injuryshamevaluessoldiersmilitaryposttraumatic |
| spellingShingle | Caroline Diekmann Caroline Diekmann Leonie Issels Christina Alliger-Horn Heinrich Rau Christian Fischer Thomas Thiel Gerd Willmund Peter Zimmermann Traumatized German soldiers with moral injury – value-based cognitive-behavioral group therapy to treat war-related shame Frontiers in Psychiatry moral injury shame values soldiers military posttraumatic |
| title | Traumatized German soldiers with moral injury – value-based cognitive-behavioral group therapy to treat war-related shame |
| title_full | Traumatized German soldiers with moral injury – value-based cognitive-behavioral group therapy to treat war-related shame |
| title_fullStr | Traumatized German soldiers with moral injury – value-based cognitive-behavioral group therapy to treat war-related shame |
| title_full_unstemmed | Traumatized German soldiers with moral injury – value-based cognitive-behavioral group therapy to treat war-related shame |
| title_short | Traumatized German soldiers with moral injury – value-based cognitive-behavioral group therapy to treat war-related shame |
| title_sort | traumatized german soldiers with moral injury value based cognitive behavioral group therapy to treat war related shame |
| topic | moral injury shame values soldiers military posttraumatic |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1173466/full |
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