Comparing Outcomes of Women‐Only and Mixed‐Gender Intensive Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Treatment for Female Veterans

Abstract

Although most female veterans treated in specialized intensive Veterans Health Administration (VHA) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) programs receive services in settings in which over 95% of participants are men, two programs include only women. Whether outcomes for women with PTSD are superior in women‐only programs has not been evaluated. National program evaluation data on 1,357 women veterans from 57 sites were collected at program entry and 4 months after discharge. With adjustment for differences in baseline characteristics, outcomes of women in two women‐only programs (n = 469) were compared with those from 55 mixed‐gender programs (n = 888), using mixed models with random effect for site. The primary outcome was total PTSD symptom level, with supplementary information on PTSD assessment subscales, substance use, and other outcomes. At program entry, female veterans in women‐only programs had lower scores on measures of total PTSD symptoms, p = .013, d = −0.24, and on several subscales. Adjusting for these differences, there were no significant differences between program types in terms of PTSD total score or scores on secondary measures. In women‐only programs, veterans had longer lengths of stay and were rated by their clinicians to have a higher level of commitment to therapy at discharge. Thus, women‐only programs did not show superior outcomes; however, compared to participants in mixed‐gender programs, those in women‐only programs had longer lengths of stay, higher levels of commitment to therapy, and were more likely to participate in posttreatment outcome assessments following discharge.

Psychosocial Outcomes of Australian Male and Female Veterans Following Participation in Peer-Led Adventure-Based Therapy

“…Studies have also demonstrated differences in mental health-related treatment retention among male and female patients (Choi et al, 2015;Pedrelli et al, 2016), highlighting potentially different treatment preferences between genders. In particular, a recent study from the US reported that women veterans in women-only PTSD programs had greater treatment retention and higher levels of commitment to therapy compared to participants in mixed-gender programs (Stefanovics & Rosenheck, 2019). Through providing separate male and female programs, Trojan's Trek may be able to facilitate tailored environments for both genders accounting for potential differences such as trauma-exposure or treatment preferences.…”