Veterans often become students, attempting to begin or continue their education after service. However, prior traumatic experiences, generally manifested in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), frequently become a considerable issue during learning, causing mental and physical complications (Rudd et al., 2011). In addition, the onset of the opioid epidemic and the use of this substance for pain relief significantly decreases the Veterans’ well-being, impeding their educational success. Scholarly research regarding opioid use and the alleviation of PTSD symptoms highlights the implementation of Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) as a prominent approach that could aid these individuals in battling the mental consequences of trauma and drug use (Smith, 2021). Moreover, Veteran students have been reported to be more severely affected by the opioid epidemic, which reduces the possibility of coping with potential stress and fitting into social groups properly (Blevins, 2019; Boccieri et al., 2019). Therefore, assisting Veteran students in overcoming the consequences of PTSD worsened by opioid misuse is a significant issue for scholarly research.
The onset of the opioid epidemic and the popularity of opioids as pain relief medicine has considerably affected the welfare of veterans struggling with PTSD. Several studies suggest that opioid misuse and drug addiction can be common consequences of trauma in numerous ethnic minorities, including Veteran students (Kip et al., 2014). Although the primary purpose of opioid medicine is to relieve physical pain, scientists have noted that there is a potential correlation between physical pain manifestations and psychological trauma, which might result in the prescription of opioids and substance abuse (Carrola & Corbin-Burdick, 2015). Considering that opioids can be related to the development of such mental issues as drug misuse, anxiety, psychosomatic pain, and depression, posttraumatic growth methods can be efficiently used to address the occurrence of these problems is essential.
Of special concern are the Veteran students belonging to various ethnic minorities, whose well-being can be more severely affected by the opioid epidemic. African-American populations are reported to suffer from higher rates of PTSD, while veterans belonging to ethnic minorities are less likely to manifest positive results of symptomatic treatment in comparison with other patients (Coleman et al., 2018). In this regard, student Veterans afflicted by PTSD and receiving opioid medication become a group of risk in consideration of their welfare. Given that the current findings regarding the implementation of commonly used therapies to battle these issues are an inconsistent, further investigation of effective approaches focused on Veteran students belonging to ethnic minorities is needed (Coleman et al., 2018). Thus, the posttraumatic growth methodology can be a prominent approach to confront the emergence of PTSD and opioid abuse symptoms in the chosen population.
The current study focuses on the effect of the posttraumatic growth concept as a strategy that could alleviate the consequences of PTSD and the opioid epidemic in Veteran students, implementing the Delphi method to examine the efficiency of the suggested model. Considering that this proposition is rather innovative and concerns a particular group of Veterans, specifying the opinions of professionals who possess the corresponding experience is highly necessary (Birtles, 2017). As such, experts in the fields of student Veteran PTSD counseling, ethnic minorities counseling, and PTG application for Veterans or Veteran students will be needed for this task. By focusing on the insights and ideas from a chosen expert panel, it will be possible to outline the main complications and properly address them in future experimental investigations.
The research question for this study is still in the process of development, as several crucial complications regarding the topic specificity and expert panel are to be resolved. The current research question is formulated as follows: how can the posttraumatic growth method be applied to the psychological rehabilitation of student veterans suffering from PTSD and opioid treatment effects? The variables considered at this stage are the severity of the PTSD condition, the duration of opioid substance abuse, and the scores delivered by an expert panel. As the study grows, additional variables might be introduced to enhance topic coverage.
The research methodology for this research includes both theoretical and experimental stages of conducting a Delphi study. The theoretical step will be conducted using recent publications on the suggested topic, outlining the proposed effectiveness of the chosen framework and creating experimental hypotheses. After that, the panel size and its composition will be established according to the findings. The number of experts is to be increased if little theoretical information is available. After that, the professionals’ opinions will be gathered and evaluated, determining if a consensus was reached. If not, an additional round of questions will be conducted, and this will be repeated until a consensus is reached.
The research design for this investigation generally follows a qualitative method of examination, attempting to provide exploratory findings on the issue, but a quantitative method of examination could be implemented as well. Delphi investigations might be deemed both qualitative and quantitative, which perfectly suits the data to be used in this investigation (Kennedy, 2004). While expert panel’s opinions and insights and the prominent theoretical and practical findings from corresponding research are referred to as qualitative information, the scores distributed by the professional must be accounted for as quantitative data. Thus, a mixed-method approach will be used to analyze the relevant information appropriately.
References
Birtles, C. M. B. (2017). An interdisciplinary conceptualization of posttraumatic growth: A modified Delphi study [Ph.D. Dissertation, North Dakota State University].
Blevins, C. L. (2019). Posttraumatic growth and suicide in veterans: The impact of mental health stigma and interpersonal needs [Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte].
Boccieri, B. J., Gazdik, K. W., Kerns, L., Williams, P. L., Landgraff, N. C., & Ge, W. (2019). Severe pain in veteran students. Journal of Allied Health, 48(3), 172-180,180A-180B.
Carrola, P., & Corbin-Burdick, M. (2015). Counseling military veterans: Advocating for culturally competent and holistic interventions. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 37, 1–14.
Coleman, J. A., Lynch, J. R., Ingram, K. M., Sheerin, C. M., Rappaport, L. M., & Trapp, S. K. (2018). Examination of racial differences in a posttraumatic stress disorder group therapy program for Veterans.The Official Journal of Division 49, Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy of the American Psychological Association, 22(3), 129–142.
Kennedy, H. P. (2004). Enhancing Delphi research: Methods and results. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 45(5), 504–511.
Kip, K. E., Rosenzweig, L., Hernandez, D. F., Shuman, A., Diamond, D. M., Ann Girling, S., Sullivan, K. L., Wittenberg, T., Witt, A. M., Lengacher, C. A., Anderson, B., & McMillan, S. C. (2014). Accelerated resolution therapy for the treatment of pain secondary to symptoms of combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder.European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 5(1).
Rudd, M. D., Goulding, J., & Bryan, C. J. (2011). Student veterans: A national survey exploring psychological symptoms and suicide risk.Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 42(5), 354–358.
Smith, A. J. (2021). Towards a trauma-informed existential career development group for veterans-in-transition: A conceptual exploration.The Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 46(2), 187–201.