Warriors Research Institute

About the project

This project includes the following goals:

1. Deliver high-quality, accessible, evidence-based mental health treatment to Veterans and their beneficiaries via telehealth that leads to meaningful improvements in quality of life
2. Commit to providing treatment that is culturally competent, for both Veterans and Veteran family members
3. Make expert referrals to alternate services, based on our thorough clinical assessments, in cases in which our treatment services are not a good match for veterans or their beneficiaries
4. Reach and positively impact Veterans across Texas through our statewide marketing campaign which utilizes our internal communication channels as well as social media marketing
5. Increase the pool of culturally competent, evidence-based treatment providers by training current graduate-level trainees in mental health fields

Treatment is provided at no-cost to the client and is available for any Veteran, regardless of discharge status.

This program is supported by a grant from the Texas Veterans Commission Fund for Veterans’ Assistance. The Fund for Veterans’ Assistance provides grants to organizations serving veterans and their families. https://TVC.Texas.gov

Presentations:

Swensen, K., Kuslak, B., Jackson, J., Milton, J., Jones, S., & Coe, E. (2023). There’s Equity in Access: Impact of Access to Services on Depressive Symptoms in Texas Veterans and Their Families. Texas SOPHE, Austin, United States of America.

Jackson, J., Ard, G., Swensen, K., Jones, S., Rostockyj, J., Coe, E., & Gulliver, S. (2023). Combatting PTSD Severity with Access: Examining PTSD Symptoms and Access to Services Among Treatment Seeking Veterans and Families. Combat PTSD, San Antonio, United States of America.

Torres, V.A., Kuslak, B., Coe, E., Jones, S., Swensen, K., Rostockyj, J., & Gulliver, S.B. (2023, octubre 17-18). The Role of Comorbid Symptoms in PTSD Treatment Selection for Veterans and Their Families [Poster presentation]. 8th Annual San Antonio Combat PTSD Conference, San Antonio, TX, USA

Coe, E., Jones, S., & Swensen, K. (2023) Comparing Trauma Focused vs. Transdiagnostic Treatments: PTSD, Substance Use, and Psychological Distress Symptoms

Krautkramer, K., Cardenas, M. N., Pennington, M. L., Rostockyj, J., Coe, E., Meyer, E. C., & Gulliver, S. B. (2021, April). Psychological flexibility as a dimension of resilience for posttraumatic stress disorder and depression among veteran populations. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Partnerships in Veteran & Military Health Conference. (Virtual)

Hoffman, K., Cardenas, M. N., Pennington, M. L., Rostockyj, J., Coe, E., Meyer, E. C., & Gulliver, S. B. (2021, April). Self-compassion and PTSD symptom severity in veterans and veteran family members. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Partnerships in Veteran & Military Health Conference. (Virtual)

Hoffman, K., Cardenas, M. N., Pennington, M. L., Rostockyj, J., Coe, E., Meyer, E. C., & Gulliver, S. B. (2021, May). Self-compassion and mental health symptoms among veteran populations. Poster presented at the 33rd annual convention of the Association for Psychological Science.

Krautkramer, K., Cardenas, M. N., Pennington, M. L., Rostockyj, J., Coe, E., Meyer, E. C., & Gulliver, S. B. (2021, May). Psychological flexibility and wellbeing among veterans and veteran family members. Poster presented at Baylor Scott & White Scholars Day, Temple, TX.

Publications:

Smith, B.P., Coe, E., & Meyer, E.C. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy delivered via telehealth for the treatment of co-occurring depression, PTSD, and nicotine use in a male veteran. (2021) Clinical Case Studies.

Project team

Project director: Elizabeth Coe, PsyD

Project coordinator: Kira Swensen, MPH

About the project

The intended objective of this study is to improve the behavioral health of firefighters by developing a telehealth clinic that provides protocol driven, evidence-based treatment for firefighters with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Substance Use Disorder, Depression, and their combination.

There were four phases to this study. In the first phase, we adapted the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic treatment for emotional disorders and developed a firefighter cultural awareness training. Next, we refined the cultural awareness training by conducting a focus group. Following that, we piloted a telehealth clinic and serve five eligible firefighters. Now, we have a telehealth clinic offering this service to firefighters; we were able to expand this nationwide 2020-2023 in response to the COVID-19 declaration of emergency and currently offer services to Texas firefighters who are Texas Association of Fire Fighter (TSAFF) members.

Presentations:

Pennington, M. L., Rostockyj, J., Coe, E., Kimbrel, N. A., Meyer, E., & Gulliver, S. B. (2019, November). Windows to mental healthcare for vulnerable populations: Expanding evidence-based treatment via telehealth. Poster presented at the 35th annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Boston, MA.

Publications:

Meyer, E.C., Coe, E., Pennington, M. L., Cammarata, C., Kimbrel, N. A., Ostiguy, W., Leto, F., & Gulliver, S. B. (2022) The Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders delivered to firefighters via videoconferencing: Pilot outcomes highlighting improvements in alcohol use disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, Cognitive and Behavioral Practice. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2022.08.004.

Research team:

Principal investigator: Suzy Gulliver, PhD

Program managers

• Michelle Pennington, MPH
• Jordan Smith Lewis, MPH

About the project

A cross-sectional survey was sent out to the membership of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) to measure burnout, overtime, family life satisfaction, and occupational stress.

Research team:

Principal investigator: Suzy Gulliver, PhD

Program managers

• Jordan Smith Lewis, MPH
• Michelle Pennington, MPH
• Kira Swensen, MPH

About the project

The goal of this project is to evaluate BSWH primary care providers on their knowledge of cardiovascular disease risk, their knowledge of women veteran-specific risk, and their comfort with suggesting lifestyle changes to their patients to reduce cardiovascular disease risk.

Research team:

Principal investigator: Elizabeth Coe, PsyD

Lead research assistant, mentee: Katharine Thomas

About the project

This FEMA funded project aims to develop a peer-instructed, online Emotion Regulation Skills Training for active Firefighter Peer Support Specialists.

Research team:

Principal investigator: Suzy Gulliver, PhD

Program managers

• Michelle Pennington, MPH
• Jordan Smith Lewis, MPH

About the project

The first purpose of the Big Bend Mental Health Initiative is to conduct focus groups with staff to:

• Learn staff perceptions of the utility and function of current behavioral health programing;
• Define barriers to successful programming, and
• Assess national park service employees' suggestions for means to improve access and use of the program

By better understanding the NPS employees’ perspectives of the problem, we will be more equipped to reduce the burden of mental health problems.

The second purpose is to train staff in an evidence-based technique for response to suicide risk that staff can employ: Suicide Safety Planning.

Unlike many commercially available suicide prevention interventions, this training is evidence-based and teaches participants how to respond when interacting with an individual evidencing suicidal ideation or intention.

Learning objectives for the training portion of the proposal:

• Participants will be able to list at least two protective factors of suicide.
• Participants will be able to list the steps to create a suicide safety plan.
• Participants will be able to describe at least one challenge in creating a suicide risk assessment.

Research team:

Principal investigator: Victoria Torres, PhD

Program manager: Kira Swensen, MPH

About the project

This study proposes a theory-driven, evidence-based approach to preventing common, disabling, trauma-related mental health problems in firefighters. This study aims to: Conduct a cluster RCT to compare the efficacy of peer-delivered brief unified protocol (BUP) to peer-delivered psychoeducation (PSYED) regarding mental health to small groups of FF trainees during the fire academy for preventing the development of PTSD symptoms (primary outcome) over time in new firefighters. We will Compare BUP to PSYED for preventing symptoms of alcohol use disorder, depression, anxiety, and functional impairment over time in new firefighters (secondary outcomes), and we will evaluate whether changes in neuroticism and emotion regulation mediate the effect of BUP on the outcomes (prevention mechanisms).

Research team:

Principal investigator: Suzy Gulliver, PhD

Program manager: Michelle Pennington, MPH

About the project

This study aims to 1) Quantify the degree to which the recently trained International Association of Fire Service (IAFF) Peer Support Workforce are using the training they received in terms of engaging in specific actions related to the peer support role. 2) Evaluate newly trained Peers’ self-efficacy regarding the delivery of Peer Support Services. 3) Quantify Peers’ perception of the effectiveness of the services they delivered. 4) Evaluate the impact of factors related to instructional methods (class size, in-person versus on-line training) on satisfaction, role engagement, self-efficacy, and perceived effectiveness. 5) Identify which process-related factors (instructional methods, satisfaction with the training) and individual factors (FFs’ level of emotional distress, their level of occupational stress, self-efficacy in the peer support role), most strongly predict the two main outcomes of role engagement and perceived effectiveness. 

Presentations:

Strack, J., Dupree, J., Cardenas, M., Rostockyj, J., Pennington, M. L., Maness, A., Coe, E., Meyer, E. C., Gulliver, S. B. (2020, May). Training veteran peer support specialists in Central Texas. Poster presented at Baylor Scott & White Scholar’s Day, Temple, TX.

Cardenas, M., Rostockyj, J., Pennington, M., Coe, E., Strack, J., Dupree, J., Meyer, E. C., & Gulliver, S. B. (2020, April). Expanding access to evidence-based mental health care for Texas veterans: Developing strong therapeutic alliances via telehealth. Military Social Work & Behavioral Health Conference, Austin, TX.

Dupree, J., Pennington, M., Rostockyj, J., Strack, J., Cardenas, M., Coe, E., Meyer, E. C., & Gulliver, S. B. (2020, May). Building telehealth clinics for veterans and first responders in Central Texas. Presented at Baylor Scott & White Scholar’s Day, Temple, TX.

Rostockyj, J., Pennington, M., McCallum, A., Coe, E., Strack, J., Meyer, E. C., & Gulliver, S. (2020, July). Veterans helping veterans: Building a peer support training program for veterans and veteran family members. Military Social Work & Behavioral Health Conference, Austin, TX

Meyer, E. C., Cardenas, M. N., Pennington, M., Rostockyj, J., Strack, J., McCallum, A., Dupree, J., Coe, E., & Gulliver, S. B (2021, February). Building a Behavioral Health Peer Support Program for Military Veterans and Their Families: Development and Preliminary Results. Poster presented at the Rehabilitation Psychology Conference. (Virtual)

Research team:

Principal Investigator: Suzy Gulliver, PhD

Program managers

• Michelle Pennington, MPH
• Gillian Ard

About the study

The goal of this project is to decrease perceived stigma in relationship to behavioral health programs in fire service through the development and delivery of an evidence-based anti-stigma intervention campaign called STAMP OUT STIGMA (SOS). SOS will collect 12 videotaped testimonials and use them in a livestreamed anti-stigma session to decrease stigma regarding behavioral health issues in fire service.

Presentations

Pennington, M. L., Maness, A. G., Gomez, D. R., Thomason, P. M., Denman, T. C., & Gulliver, S. B. (2017, April). Ethics of suicide research: Does asking about suicide increase suicidality in fire service? Poster presented at the 5th annual Baylor Scott & White Health Central Texas Research Day, Temple, TX.

Thomason, P. M., Denman, T. C., Gomez, D. R., Pennington, M. P., Maness, A. G., & Gulliver, S. B. (2017, April). Does the context of suicide exposure influence the effects of PTSD in Firefighters? Poster presented at the 5th annual Baylor Scott & White Health Central Texas Research Day, Temple, TX.

Publicaciones

Gulliver, S. B., Pennington, M. L., Cardenas, M., Lewis, J. E., Cammarata, C. M., Leto, F., Ostiguy, W. J., Meyer, E. C., & Kimbrel, N. A. (2023). Stamp Out Stigma: A National Campaign to Decrease Stigma and Increase Behavioral Health in Fire Service. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1080/16506073.2023.2233695

Carpenter, T., Pennington, M. L., Seebeck, J., Gomez, D. R., Denman, T. C., Kimbrel, N. A., Cammarata, C. M., Leto, F., Otiguy, W. J., Gulliver, S. B. (2018). Dispositional self-forgiveness in firefighters predicts less help-seeking stigma and fewer mental health challenges. Stigma and Health.

Research team

Principal investigator: Dr. Suzy Bird Gulliver

Collaborators

• Dr. Nate Kimbrel
• Dr. Claire Cammarata
• Capt. Frank Leto
• Lt. William Ostiguy
• Dr. Thomas P. Carpenter

Primary program manager

• Michelle Pennington
• Program Manager
• Alexia Maness

Research assistants

• Emily Beattie
• Tessa Denman
• Denise Gomez
• Jordan Smith
• Katharine Thomas
• Peyton Thomason
• Victoria Torres
• Fatima Dobani

Stigma intervention video

Through a FEMA funded study, Warriors Research Institute has developed a stigma intervention curriculum for fire service. The video version of this 1.5 hour long intervention is available here at no cost.

Ver video

Firefighter testimonials

• Josh
• Dominic
• Bob
• Bryan
• Kevin
• Jon
• Tim
• Bernie
• Brad
• Kirk
• Dustin
• Scott

About the project

Project Vet PaTHs 2 is funded by Texas Health and Human Services Commission and Texas Veterans + Family Alliance Grant Program and is matched by Baylor Scott & White Health. This project expands upon the original Vet PaTHs project. The goal of this project is to increase accessibility to evidence-based mental healthcare for Texas veterans and veteran family members by addressing critical barriers such as cost, stigma and the availability of qualified, culturally-aware treatment providers.

In this project, we expand the Peer Support Trainings to organizations in Central Texas with large numbers of veteran and veteran family member employees. These trained Peer Support Specialists can serve as trouble-shooters and bridges to professional care for veterans in distress in their individual communities including to colleagues in their workplace. In the second part of this project we continue to train and supervise a cadre of qualified graduate students to deliver behavioral, evidence-based treatments to veterans via telehealth with the addition of parent skills training. Cultural awareness training continues to be a part of this project, ensuring that culturally competent treatment is provided to veterans and veteran family members.

Research team

Principal investigator: Dr. Suzy Bird Gulliver

Co-investigator: Dr. Eric Meyer

Collaborators

• Dr. Sara Dolan
• Alton McCallum, MA, LPC
• Dr. Tom Carpenter
• Dr. Bryann DeBeer

Research therapists

• Dr. Elizabeth Coe
• Hillary Warrington

Primary program manager: Jessica Rostockyj

Program managers

• Alexia Maness
• Michelle Pennington

Research assistants

• Emily Beattie
• Jessica Dupree
• Megan Cardenas
• Jordan Smith
• Jordan Strack
• Katharine Thomas

About the study

Project Vet PaTHs is funded by Texas Health and Human Services Commission and Texas Veterans + Family Alliance Grant Program, and is matched by Baylor Scott & White Health. The goal of this project is to increase accessibility to evidence-based mental healthcare for Texas veterans and veteran family members by addressing critical barriers such as cost, stigma and the availability of qualified, culturally-aware treatment providers.

The WRI will accomplish this using two-pronged service facilitation approach: first, we will adapt and deliver a Peer Support Training to both veteran and veteran family members in order to build a group of Peer Support Specialists that can serve as trouble-shooters and bridges to professional care for veterans in distress in the Central Texas community; second, we will train and supervise a cadre of qualified graduate students to deliver behavioral, evidence-based treatments to veterans via telehealth.

Publicaciones

Gulliver, S. B., Rostockyj, J., Pennington, M. L., Cardenas, M., Strack, J., McCallum, A., Dupree, J., Coe, E., & Meyer, E. C. (2023, January). A peer support training and supervision program for Veterans and families: Development and preliminary results. Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health. https://doi.org/10.3138/jmvfh2022-0018

Research team

Principal investigator: Dr. Suzy Bird Gulliver

Co-principal investigators

• Dr. Sara Dolan
• Dr. Eric Meyer

Collaborators

• Dr. Nate Kimbrel
• Alton McCallum, MA, LPC

Research therapists

• Dr. Elizabeth Coe
• Hyeji Na
• Hillary Warrington

Primary program manager: Jessica Rostockyj

Program managers

• Alexia Maness
• Michelle Pennington

Research assistants

• Fatima Dobani
• Jessica Dupree
• Jordan Strack

About the study

This study is an anonymous online survey for firefighters and paramedics regarding their relationships. First, data from this project will fill a gap in the literature by gathering valuable demographic information on marriage and divorce rates and relationship satisfaction in public safety personnel by surveying firefighters and EMS personnel. Second, the study will gather preliminary data on the Couples Resiliency Index (CRI), a measure designed to assess how couples’ dyadic resilience buffers them from stressful life events.

Manuscripts in development

Sanford, K., Kruse, M. I., Proctor, A., Torres, V. A., Pennington, M. L., Synett, S. J., & Gulliver, S. B. (under review). Couple resilience and life wellbeing in firefighters.

Presentations

Proctor, A., Sanford, K., Kruse, M., Torres, V. A., Pennington, M. L., Synett, S. J., & Gulliver, S. B. (2015, November). Dimensions of Couple Resiliency in a Sample of Firefighters. Poster presented at Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 49th Annual Convention, Chicago, IL.

Publicaciones

Torres, V. A., Synett, S. J., Pennington, M. L., Kruse, M., Sanford, K., & Gulliver, S. B. (in press). Marital stability in couples employed in high risk occupations: A call for empirically sound investigation. EASNA Research Notes, 5(3).

Pennington, M.L., Coe, E., Dobani, F., Kruse, M.I., Sanford, K., & Gulliver, S.B. (in press). Keeping the flame alive: Marriage and divorce among professional firefighters. Journal of Family Issues.

Research team

Principal investigator: Dr. Suzy Bird Gulliver

Collaborators

• Dr. Keith Sanford
• Dr. Marc Kruse

Program managers

• Alexia Maness
• Michelle Pennington

Research assistants

• Denise Gomez
• Victoria Torres

About the study

The goal of this study is to provide and evaluate IAFF Peer Support Training within Texas fire departments. WRI hosted an IAFF Peer Support Training for three local fire departments and evaluated the trainees’ skill acquisition and satisfaction. We then tracked the progress of the group over six months. Currently, we are completing the final stages of this project.

Presentations

Maness, A. G., Gomez, D. R., Pennington, M. L., Denman, T. C., Thomason, P., Meyer, E. C., Leto, F., & Gulliver, S. B. (2017, November) The Utility of Telephone Supervision in Peer Support Training for Texas Firefighters. Poster to be presented at Texas Psychological Association 2017 Annual Convention, Houston, TX.

Research team

Principal investigator: Dr. Suzy Bird Gulliver

Collaborators

• Kevin Lentz
• Capt. Frank Leto

Primary program manager

• Alexia Maness

Program managers

• Michelle Pennington
• Jessica Rostockyj

Research assistants

• Fatima Dobani
• Jessica Dupree
• Denise Gomez
• Jordan Strack

Peer support training resources

• Depresión
• Does someone you know need help?
• PTSD
• Substance use disorder
• Suicide prevention
• What is peer support?

Texas firefighter wellness newsletters

• Spring 2021
• Summer 2021
• Winter 2020
• Spring 2020
• Fall 2019
• Winter 2019
• Spring 2019
• Summer 2019
• Fall 2018
• Winter 2018
• Spring 2018
• Summer 2018

About the study

The purpose of this study is to gather initial data on incidence of mTBI and post-concussive syndrome symptoms in fire service. This in turn will demonstrate whether further study is mandated. If our hypotheses are supported, firefighter quality of life could be improved by identification of mTBI and treatment or clinical management of post-concussive symptoms.

Presentations

Gomez, D. R., Torres, V. A., Thomason, P. M., Denman, T. C., Pennington, M. P., Maness, A. G., & Gulliver, S. B. (2017, April). Sleep problems and posttraumatic stress disorder in fire service. Poster to be presented at the 5th annual Baylor Scott & White Health Central Texas Research Day, Temple, TX.

Strack, J., Torres, V., Coe, E., Pennington, M. L., Dupree, J., Dobani, F., Meyer, E. C., Gomez, D., Gulliver, S. B. (2019, May). Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries and Psychological Distress in Firefighters. Poster presented at the 31st annual convention at Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC.

Strack, J., Torres, V., Coe, E., Pennington, M. L., Dupree, J., Dobani, F., Meyer, E. C., Gomez, D., Gulliver, S. B. (2019, May). Depression and PTSD in Firefighters with Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries. Poster presented at the Baylor Scott and White Scholar’s Day, Temple, TX.

a. Strack, J., Torres, V., Pennington, M. L., Gomez, D., Meyer, E. C., Gulliver, S. B. (2019, November). Symptoms of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, PTSD, and Depression in Firefighters. Poster presented at the 35th annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Boston, MA.

Publicaciones

Strack, J.E., Torres, V.A., Pennington, M.L., Cardenas, M.N., Dupree, J., Meyer, E., Dolan, S., Kruse, M.I., Synett, S. J., Kimbrel, N., & Gulliver, S.B. Psychological impact of line-of-duty head injuries in firefighters. Occupational Medicine.

Research team

Scott & White Research Mentor Award

Principal investigator: Victoria Torres

Mentor: Dr. Suzy Bird Gulliver

Collaborators

• Dr. Marc Kruse
• Dr. Sara Dolan
• Dr. Nate Kimbrel

Program managers

• Alexia Maness
• Michelle Pennington

Research assistants

• Denise Gomez
• Jordan Strack

• NIMH RAPID R01 Award to Dr. Rose T. Zimering "Assessing secondary trauma in disaster relief clinicians."
• Principal Investigators: Dr. Rose T. Zimering and Dr. Suzy Bird Gulliver
• Funding Period: 04/01/02 – 02/28/04
• Collaborators: Barbara Kamholz, Sandra Morissette, Jeff Knight, Jim Monroe, Erin Scott Daly, Terry Keane and Lt. William Ostiguy
• Research Assistants: Todd Mattuchio and Theresa Fesperman

Summary

In the days and weeks following the devastating events of 9/11/01, our research group was fortunate to provide clinical support at Logan Airport to the families who lost people in the airplane crashes. This gave rise to the NIMH Rapid Grant, where we had the opportunity to assess whether providing disaster relief services resulted in vicarious or secondary traumatization to disaster relief providers, such as the firefighter CISM team members that travelled to Ground Zero.

The Rapid Project focused on aspects of secondary trauma in emergency responders with the specific aim of understanding more about secondary PTSD. Findings from this study supported the idea that secondary PTSD exists. Between 4-6% of first responders report acute stress episodes during their time helping others on the scene of an emergency. Overall, there is a cost to providing peer support, but it eventually resolves.

Presentations

Gulliver, S. B., Zimering, R. T., Knight, J., Munroe, J., Greene, J., Wolfsdorf, B. A., Baker-Morissette, S., & Mattuchio, T. (2002, November). . Paper session presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Baltimore, MD.

Munroe, J., Zimering, R. T., Gulliver, S. B., Knight, J., Greene, J., Wolfsdorf, B. A., Baker-Morissette, S., & Mattuchio, T. (2002, November). . Paper session presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Baltimore, MD.

Knight, J. A., Gulliver, S. B., Zimering, R. T., Mattuchio, T., Munroe, J. F., Wolfsdorf, B. A., & Baker-Morissette, S. (2003, October). . Poster presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Chicago, IL.

Knight, J. A., Zimering, R. T., Gulliver, S. B., Munroe, J. M., Mattuchio, T., Baker-Morissette, S., & Wolfsdorf, B. A. (2003, October). . Poster presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Chicago, IL.

Gulliver, S. B., Zimering, R. T., Knight, J. A., Munroe, J. F., Mattuchio, T., Baker-Morissette, S., & Wolfsdorf, B. A. (2003, October). . Poster presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Chicago, IL.

Fesperman, T. H., Gulliver, S. B., Zimering, R. T., & Knight, J. A. (2004, March). Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Baltimore, MD.

Fesperman, T., Scott, E. L., Zimering, R. T., Gulliver, S. B., & Knight, J. (2004, November). Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, New Orleans, LA.

Publicaciones

Zimering, R. T., Munroe, J., & Gulliver, S. B. (2003). Secondary traumatization in mental health care providers. Psychiatric Times, 4, 43-47.

Kamholz, B. W., Gulliver, S. B., & Zimering, R. T. (2005). From phrenology to behavioral genetics. International Pediatrics, 20(4), 197-199.

Zimering, R. T., Gulliver, S. B., Knight, J., Munroe, J., & Keane, T. M. (2006). Posttraumatic stress disorder in disaster relief workers following direct and indirect trauma exposure to Ground Zero. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 19(4), 553-557. PMID: 16929511. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jts.20143

Daly, E. S., Gulliver, S. B., Zimering, R. T., Knight, J., Kamholz, B. W., & Morissette, S. B. (2008). Disaster mental health workers responding to ground zero: One year later. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 21(2), 227-230. PMID: 17286342. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.20311

About the study

Project RESPONDER is a current study funded by FEMA in which our aim is to develop a standard operating procedure (SOP) for suicide postvention in Fire Service. In this project, an SOP developed by the New York City Fire Department Counseling Service Unit was expanded upon based on feedback from an expert review group. Next, six focus groups reviewed the SOP, and this feedback was used to create the final product. Currently, investigators are completing final stages of the project. IAFF members can log onto the IAFF website to access study materials at www.IAFF.org.

Publicaciones

Gulliver, S. B., Pennington, M., Leto, F., Cammarata, C., Ostiguy, W., Zavodny C., Flynn, E. J., & Kimbrel, N. A. (2016). In the wake of suicide: Evaluating standard operating procedures for suicide postvention in Fire Service. Death Studies, 40(2), 121-128. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2015.1077357

Kimbrel, N. A., Pennington, M. L., Cammarata, C. M., Leto, F., Ostiguy, W. J., & Gulliver, S. B. (2017). Is cumulative exposure to suicide attempts and deaths a risk factor for suicidal behavior among firefighters? A Preliminary Study. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behaviors, 46(6), 669-677. https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12248

Research team

Principal investigator: Dr. Suzy Bird Gulliver

Collaborators

• Dr. Nate Kimbrel
• Dr. Claire Cammarata
• Capt. Frank Leto
• Lt. William Ostiguy

Program managers

• Alexia Maness
• Michelle Pennington

Research assistants

• Denise Gomez
• Victoria Torres

• NIMH R21 Award to Dr. Rose Zimering "Developing group treatments for acute stress disorder."
• Principal Investigators: Dr. Rose T. Zimering and Dr. Suzy Bird Gulliver
• Funding Period: 04/01/03 – 02/28/06
• Collaborators: Jeff Knight, Erin Scott Daly, Terry Keane and Lt. William Ostiguy
• Research Assistants: Theresa Fesperman and Christine Gillis

Summary

This three-year longitudinal study, “Developing group treatments for acute stress disorder” (ASD) focused on creating an alternative to critical stress debriefing. A one-session training was developed, and beta tested with fire leadership. In addition, a comprehensive assessment of PTSD, depression, and substance use in nearly 200 active duty firefighters was completed.

Presentations

Scott, E. L., Knight, J., Gulliver, S. B., & Zimering, R. T. (2005). The cost of firefighting: Prevalence of PTSD and substance use. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Toronto, CA.

Dupree, J., Pennington, M. L., Dobani, F., Strack, J., Meyer, E. C., Gulliver, S. B. (2019, May). PTSD and Perceived Social Support in Firefighters: The Irrelevance of Type. Poster presented at the 31st annual convention at Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC.

Dobani, F., Coe, E., Rostockyj, J., Pennington, M. L., Dupree, J., Strack, J., Meyer, E. C., Gulliver, S. B. (2019, May). Potentially Traumatic Event Exposure in Fire Service. Poster presented at the 31st annual convention at Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC.

Pendleton, E., Dupree, J., Strack, J., Dobani, F., Pennington, M. L., Meyer, E. C., & Gulliver, S. B. (2019, May). Social Support and Drinking Motives in Firefighter Recruits. Poster accepted at the Baylor Scott & White Scholar’s Day, Temple, TX.

Dupree, J., Pennington, M. L., Dobani, F., Strack, J., Meyer, E. C., Gulliver, S. B. (2019, May). PTSD and Perceived Social Support in Firefighters: The Irrelevance of Type. Poster presented at the Baylor Scott and White Scholar’s Day, Temple, TX.

Publicaciones

Kimbrel, N. A., Steffen, L. E., Meyer, E. C., Kruse, M. I., Knight, J. A., Zimering, R. T., & Gulliver, S. B.(2011). A revised measure of occupational stress for firefighters: Psychometric properties and relationship to posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and substance abuse. Psychological Services,8(4), 294-306. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0025845

Meyer, E. C., Zimering, R., Daley, E., Knight, J. K., Kamholz, B. W., & Gulliver, S. B. (2012). Predictors of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and other psychological symptoms in trauma-exposed firefighters. Psychological Services, 9(1), 1-15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0026414

• NIMH R01 Award "Pathways of Risk and Resilience in Firefighter Recruits"
• Principal Investigators: Dr. Suzy Bird Gulliver and Dr. Rose T. Zimering
• Funding Period: 09/02/06 – 07/31/13
• Collaborators: Barbara Kamholz, Sandra Morissette, Jeff Knight, Jim Monroe, Erin Scott Daly, Michael Lyons, Dan King, Lynda King, Tom Carpenter, Eric Meyer and Nate Kimbrel
• Program Manager: Cindy Zavodny
• Post-doctoral Fellows: Marc Kruse, Yonit Schoor, Joseph VanderVeen, Anthony Giardina, and David Meyers
• Research Assistants: Christine Gillis, Christian Herwitz, Erin Keppel, Laurie Steffen, Amruta Mardikar, Samuel Reyna, Lisa Flynn, Ashley Devereux, Grace Carpenter, Michelle Pennington, Victoria Torres and Samantha Synett

Summary

Pathways of Risk and Resilience in Firefighter Recruits is a longitudinal assessment study funded by NIMH to prospectively identify the pathways to psychopathology as a response to potentially traumatic events, explore the temporal nature of the patterns of risk, recovery, relapse, and resilience, and test the ability of pre-employment variables to predict entry into one of the hypothesized pathways.

328 firefighter recruits were assessed upon entering the fire academy, every 4 months by phone, and in person once a year. Data analysis is ongoing. Preliminary results include the finding that trauma exposure, or frequency of PTEs, in and of itself did not predict psychopathology or symptomatology. However, “perceived social support, occupational stress, coping, as well as the interaction between perceived social support and self-blame were significant predictors of symptoms” (Meyer et al, 1, 2012). VanderVeen et al (2012) found that smoking relapse was significantly associated with greater weekly rates of drinking in firefighter recruits’ first year in fire service. Kruse et al (2011) explored the differences in drinking between firefighters who were veterans and those who were nonveterans. Veterans in fire service were more likely to drink to cope with negative emotions or thoughts when compared to nonveterans. Veterans were also more likely to drink significantly more per episode than nonveterans. Kruse et al (2010) also found that occupational stress was significantly associated with higher levels of drinking in the first year of fire service among all firefighter recruits.

Other important findings over the course of this study are not directly related to the specific aims. Kimbrel et al (2011) developed a modified instrument to measure occupational stress in firefighters. From the original 57-item Sources of Occupational Stress (SOOS) measure, Kimbrel et al tested a 14-item version of the SOOS. The internal consistency of the SOOS-14 was good (α = .82). Additional assessment development work is underway.

Presentations

Denman, T. C., Pennington, M. L., Gomez, D. R., Thomason, P. M., Maness, A. G., & Gulliver, S. B. (2017, April). Drinking motives and marriage in firefighters. Poster to be presented at the 5th annual Baylor Scott & White Health Central Texas Research Day, Temple, TX.

Vielma, I., Frank, S., Pennington, M. L., Thomason, P. M., Gomez, D. R., Denman, T. C., Maness, A. G., & Gulliver, S. B. (2017, April). Attrition among Veteran and Non-Veteran Firefighters in a Three-Year Longitudinal Study. Poster to be presented at the 5th annual Baylor Scott & White Health Central Texas Research Day, Temple, TX.

Knight, J. A., Gulliver, S. B., Zimering, R., Kamholz, B., Morissette, S., Munroe, J., Meyer, D. L., Keppel, E., and Herwitz, C. (2008, August). Prospective Analysis of Risk and Resilience Variables in Firefighters. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Boston, MA.

Meyer, D., Gulliver, S. B., Vasterling, J. J., & Ellis, B. (2008). Recruitment/Retention in Trauma Research: Meeting the Challenge of Special Populations, Symposium at 2008 Annual APA Convention.

Gulliver, S. B. & Zimering, R. T. (2008, August). Trauma research in firefighters: Challenges of recruitment and retention. APA Annual Convention, Boston, MA.

Meyer, D. L., Knight, J. A., Zimering, R., Gulliver, S. B., Kamholz, B., Morissette, S., Munroe, J., Keppel, E., & Herwitz, C. (2008, August). Preliminary Report on Prospective Firefighter Recruit Study. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Boston, MA.

Meyer, D., Gulliver, S. B., Kamholz, B. W., Morissette, S. B., Knight, J., & Zimering, R. (2008, November). Conceptual and methodological issues in longitudinal trauma-related research. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Chicago, IL.

Meyer, D., Smith, L., McNeill, S., Liverant, G., Kamholz, B., & Gulliver, S. B. (2008, November). Relationship between religious coping and PTSD symptoms among firefighter recruits. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Chicago, IL.

Herwitz, C., Keppel, E. M., Zimering, R. T., Kamholz, B. W., Meyer, D. L., Gulliver, S. B., Morissette, S. B., Munroe, J., & Knight, J. A. (2009, April). Self-Assessment of Mental Health and Social Support in Firefighters. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Montreal, QC, Canada.

Kruse, M. I., Keppel., E. M., Meyer, D. L., Morissette, S. B., Kamholz, B. W., Munroe, J., Knight, J., Herwitz, C., Zimering, R. T., & Gulliver, S. B. (2009, June). Changes in heavy drinking during the first year of fire service: Results from a longitudinal study of firefighter recruits. Poster presented at the 32^nd Annual Scientific Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, San Diego, CA. *

Kruse, M. I., Steffen, L. E., Keppel, E. M., Morissette, S. B., Kamholz, B. W., Munroe, J., Knight, J., Zimering, R. T., & Gulliver, S. B. (2010, August). Predictors of changes in heavy drinking in fire fighter recruits. Poster submitted for presentation at the 118^th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Diego, CA.

Steffen, L. E., Mardikar, A. A., Kruse, M. I., Kamholz, B. W., Zimering, R. T., & Gulliver, S. B. (2010, November). Aggression as a predictor of heavy drinking during the first year of fire service. Poster presentation at the 26th Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Kruse, M.I., Steffen, L.E., Keppel, E.M., Morissette, S.B., Kamholz, B.W., Munroe, J., Knight, J., Zimering, R.T., & Gulliver, S.B. (2010, June). Evidence of problematic patterns of drinking in high-functioning OEF/OIF Veterans. Poster presentation at the 33^rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, San Antonio, TX.

Kruse, M.I., Morissette, S.B., Zimering, R.T., Kamholz, B.W., Knight, J., Kimbrel, N., & VanderVeen, J. (2011, March). Evidence of patterns of heavy drinking in military veterans recruited outside of the Veterans affairs health care system. Paper presented at the 31st Annual Conference of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, New Orleans, LA.

VanderVeen, J. W., Kruse, M. I., Reyna, S. H., Mardikar, A. A., Morissette, S. B., Kamholz, B. W., Munroe, J., Knight, J., Zimering, R. T., & Gulliver, S. B. (2011, February). Differences in drinking patterns among firefighters who report cigarette smoking during their first year of fire service. Poster presentation at the 17th annual meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, Toronto, Canada.

Kruse, M. I., Morissette, S. B., Meyer, E. C., Kimbrel, N. A., Kamholz, B., Knight, J., Zimering, R. T., & Gulliver, S. B. (2014, June). Patterns and predictors of heavy drinking during the first three years of fire service. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, Bellevue, WA. *

Gulliver, S. B., Pennington, M. L., Torres, V. A., Synett, S., & Zimering, R. T. (2015, May). Health risk behaviors in a risky profession: The tobacco and alcohol use of firefighters in their first years of service. Poster presented at the 3rd Annual Meeting of Scott and White Academic Operations Research Days, Temple, TX.

Pennington, M. L., Synett, S. J., Torres, V. A., Brown, J. M. & Gulliver, S. B. (2015, May). Does Exposure to Natural Disaster Increase Risk and Vulnerability to Health Problems and Depression in an at Risk Population? Poster presented at the 3rd Annual Meeting of Scott and White Academic Operations Research Days, Temple, TX.

Pennington, M. L., Synett, S. J., Torres, V. A., & Gulliver, S. B. (2015, April). Does Exposure to Natural Disaster Increase Risk and Vulnerability to Health Problems and Depression in an at Risk Population? Poster presented at the 36th Annual Meeting of Society of Behavioral Medicine, San Antonio, TX.

Gulliver, S. B., Pennington, M. L., Torres, V. A., Synett, S., & Zimering, R. T. (2015, February). Health risk behaviors in a risky profession: The tobacco and alcohol use of firefighters in their first years of service. Poster presented at the 21st Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, Philadelphia, PA.

Gomez, D. R., Torres, V. A., Pennington, M. L., Carpenter, T. P., Maness, A. G., Morissette, S. B., Zimering, R. T., & Gulliver, S. B. (2016, May). The relationship between exercise, social support, and depression in firefighter recruits. Poster presented at Baylor Scott & White Health Academic Operations Research Days, Temple, TX.

Torres, V. A., Gomez, D. R., Pennington, M. L., Carpenter, T. P., Maness, A. G., Morissette, S. B., Zimering, R. T., & Gulliver, S. B. (2016, May). How does lifetime recreational drug use relate to nicotine use in the first 3 years of fire service? Poster presented at Baylor Scott & White Health Academic Operations Research Days, Temple, TX.

Dupree, J., Pennington, M. L., Dobani, F., Strack, J., Meyer, E. C., Gulliver, S. B. (2019, May). PTSD and Perceived Social Support in Firefighters: The Irrelevance of Type. Poster presented at the 31st annual convention at Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC.

Dobani, F., Coe, E., Rostockyj, J., Pennington, M. L., Dupree, J., Strack, J., Meyer, E. C., Gulliver, S. B. (2019, May). Potentially Traumatic Event Exposure in Fire Service. Poster presented at the 31st annual convention at Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC.

Pendleton, E., Dupree, J., Strack, J., Dobani, F., Pennington, M. L., Meyer, E. C., & Gulliver, S. B. (2019, May). Social Support and Drinking Motives in Firefighter Recruits. Poster accepted at the Baylor Scott & White Scholar’s Day, Temple, TX.

Dupree, J., Pennington, M. L., Dobani, F., Strack, J., Meyer, E. C., Gulliver, S. B. (2019, May). PTSD and Perceived Social Support in Firefighters: The Irrelevance of Type. Poster presented at the Baylor Scott and White Scholar’s Day, Temple, TX.

Dupree, J., Meyer, E., Zimering, R., Knight, J., Keane, T., & Gulliver, S. B. (2019, November). The Impact of PTSD Symptoms on Physical and Mental Health Functioning in Firefighters. Poster presented at the 35th annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Boston, MA.

Publicaciones

Gulliver, S. B., & Steffen, L. E. (2010). Towards integrated treatments for PTSD and substance use disorders. PTSD Research Quarterly, 21(2), 1-3. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/e571962010-002

Kimbrel, N. A., Steffen, L. E., Meyer, E. C., Kruse, M. I., Knight, J. A., Zimering, R. T., & Gulliver, S. B. (2011). A revised measure of occupational stress for firefighters: Psychometric properties and relationship to posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and substance abuse. Psychological Services, 8(4), 294-306. doi:10.1037/a0025845

Kruse, M. I., Steffen, L. E., Kimbrel, N. A., & Gulliver, S. B. (2011). Co-Occurring PTSD and Substance Use Disorders. Psychosocial treatment of co-morbid Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Substance use Disorders. In B.A. Moore & W.E. Penk (Eds.) Handbook for the Treatment of PTSD in Military Personnel. New York: Guilford Press.

VanderVeen, J. W., Gulliver, S. B., Morissette, S. B., Kruse, M. I., Kamholz, B. W., Zimering, R. T., & ... Keane, T. M. (2012). Differences in drinking patterns, occupational stress, and exposure to potentially traumatic events among firefighters: Predictors of smoking relapse. The American Journal on Addictions, 21(6), 550-554. doi:10.1111/j.1521-0391.2012.00282.x

Gulliver, S. B., Zimering, R., Carpenter, G. S., Giardina, A., & Farrar, J. (2014). The Psychological Consequences of Disaster. In P. Ouimmette & J. P. Read, Trauma and Substance Abuse: Causes, Consequences and Treatment of Comorbid Disasters (125-141). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

Pennington, M. L., Carpenter, T. P., Synett, S. J., Torres, V. A., Teague, J., Morissette, S. B., ... & Gulliver, S. B. (2018). The influence of exposure to natural disasters on depression and PTSD symptoms among firefighters. Prehospital and disaster medicine, 33(1), 102-108.

Gulliver, S. B., Zimering, R. T., Knight, J., Morisette, S. B., Kamholz, B. W., Meyer, E. C., Keane, T.M., Pennington, M. L., Denman, T. C., Carpenter, T. P., & Kimbrel, N. A. (2018). Tobacco and Alcohol Use among Firefighters during their First Three Years of Service. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.

Gulliver, S. B., Zimering, R. T., MacDonald, H. Z., Morissette, S. B., Kamholz, B. W., Daly, E. S., Lyons, M., Knight, J., & Keane, T. (submitted). PTSD and Substance Use Disorders in Firefighters: Risk and Resilience.

Pennington, M. L., Carpenter, T. P., Synett, S. J., Torres, V. A., Teague, J., Morissette, S. B., ... & Gulliver, S. B. (2018). The influence of exposure to natural disasters on depression and PTSD symptoms among firefighters. Prehospital and disaster medicine, 33(1), 102-108

Gulliver, S. B., Zimering, R., Knight, J., Morissette, S., Kamholz, B., Meyer, E., ... & Kimbrel, N. (2018). Tobacco and alcohol use among firefighters during their first 3 years of service. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 32(3), 255.

Gulliver, S. B., Pennington, M. L., Torres, V. A., Steffen, L. E., Mardikar, A., Leto, F., Ostiguy, W., Kimbrel, N. A., & Zimering, R. T., (2018). Behavioral Health Programs in Fire Service: Surveying Access and Preferences. Psychological Services.

Gulliver, S. B., Zimering, R. T., Dobani, F., Pennington, M. L., Morissette, S. B., Kamholz, B. W., Knight, J. A., Keane, T. M., Kimbrel, N. A., Carpenter, T. P. & Meyer, E. C. (in press). Alcohol use and mental health symptoms in female firefighter recruits. Occupational Medicine.

Gulliver, S.B., Zimering, R.T., Knight, J., Morissette, S.B., Kamholz, B.W., Pennington, M.L., Dobani, F., Carpenter, T.B., Kimbrel, N.A., Keane, T.M., & Meyer, E.C. (in press). A prospective study of firefighters’ PTSD and depression symptoms: the first three years of service. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy.

Meyer, E.C., Zimering, R.T, Knight, J., Morissette, S.B., Kamholz, B.W., Coe, E., Carpenter, T.P., Keane, T.M., Kimbrel, N.A., & Gulliver, S.B. (in press). Negative emotionality interacts with trauma exposure to prospectively predict greater PTSD symptoms during the first three years of tire service. Journal of Traumatic Stress.

Firefighter risk & resilience study newsletters

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• FEMA Award "Texas A&M/IAFF Partnership for the Study of Implementation of State-of-the-Art Behavioral Health Programs into Fire Service Culture: A FY 2007 Fire and Safety Proposal"
• Principal Investigator: Dr. Suzy Bird Gulliver
• Funding Period: 07/18/08 - 01/17/10
• Collaborators: Lt. William Ostiguy, Patrick Morrison, Capt. Frank Leto, Dr. Rose Zimering, and Dr. Claire Cammarata
• Research Assistants: Laurie Steffen and Amruta Mardikar

Summary

Project PREVENT was a study funded by FEMA that consisted of 20 focus groups where participants defined optimal behavioral health programs (BHP), brainstormed the barriers to creation and utilization of BHPs, and brainstormed the solutions to creating and motivating people to use BHPs. This information was used to create an anonymous questionnaire about healthcare utilization barriers and solutions that was then posted on the IAFF website and sent to volunteer fire service. Between the professional and volunteer firefighter samples over 2,000 questionnaires were filled out. We are currently drafting a manuscript detailing the results of the questionnaire study.

Presentations

Denman, T., Pennington, M., Maness, A. G., Torres, V., Gomez, D., & Gulliver, S. B. (2016, May). Do female firefighters have more stigma concerns regarding behavioral health services than male firefighters? Poster presented at Baylor Scott & White Health Academic Operations Research Days, Temple, TX.

Gulliver, S. B., Steffen, L. E., Zimering, R. T., Leto, F., Tapscott, R., Ostiguy, W., & Morrison, P. (2009, November). Behavioral Health Programs in Fire Service: Identifying Needs and Barriers through Focus Groups. Paper presented as part of a symposium at the APA’s Conference: Work, Stress, and Health 2009: Global Concerns and Approaches, Puerto Rico.

Mardikar, A. A., Steffen, L. E., Kimbrel, N. A., Zimering, R. T., & Gulliver, S. B. (2010, June). Who is trained in CISM? A Comparison among Firefighters. Poster accepted for presentation at the 2010 World Congress of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Boston, MA.

Mardikar, A. A., Steffen, L. E., Kimbrel, N. A., Fay, C., Zimering, R. T., & Gulliver, S. B. (2010, August). Gender Differences in Barriers to Occupational Health in Fire Service. Poster accepted for presentation at the 118^th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, San Diego, CA.

Steffen, L. E., Mardikar, A. A., Kimbrel, N. A., Fay, C., Zimering, R. T., & Gulliver, S. B. (2010, August). Multi-method Approach to Studying Behavioral Health Implementation in Fire Service. Poster accepted for presentation at the 118^th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, San Diego, CA.

Steffen, L. E., Kimbrel, N. A., Meyer, E. C., Kruse, M. I., Knight, J. A., Zimering, R. T., & Gulliver, S. B. (2010, April). Psychometric properties of two abbreviated versions of the Sources of Occupational Stress (SOOS) scale: The SOOS-33 and the SOOS-14. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Seattle, WA.

Publicaciones

Kimbrel, N. A., Steffen, L. E., Meyer, E. C., Kruse, M. I., Knight, J. A., Zimering, R. T., & Gulliver, S. B. (2011). A revised measure of occupational stress for firefighters: Psychometric properties and relationship to posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and substance abuse. Psychological Services,8(4), 294-306. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0025845

Gulliver, S. B., Pennington, M. L., Torres, V. A., Steffen, L. E., Mardikar, A., Leto, F., Ostiguy, W., Kimbrel, N. A., & Zimering, R. T. (2018). Behavioral health programs in fire service: Surveying access and preferences. Psychological Services, 16(1), 340-345. https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000222

Pennington, M. L., Cardenas, M., Nesbitt, K., Coe, E., Kimbrel, N., Zimering, R., & Gulliver, S. B. (in press). Career versus volunteer firefighters: Differences in perceived availability and barriers to behavioral health care. Psychological Services.

• 2010 FEMA Grant Award EMW-2010-FP-00597 to Dr. Suzy Bird Gulliver "Motivational Intervention to Maximize Peer Behavioral Health Awareness and Skill"
• Principal Investigator: Dr. Suzy Bird Gulliver
• Funding Period: 07/09/11 – 07/08/13
• Collaborators: Dr. Nathan Kimbrel, Lt. William Ostiguy, Patrick Morrison, Capt. Frank Leto, Dr. Claire Cammarata, Dr. Rose Zimering and Barbara Kamholz
• Post-doctoral Fellows: Marc Kruse, Yonit Schoor, Joseph VanderVeen, Anthony Giardina and David Meyers
• Research Assistants: Lisa Flynn, Amruta Mardikar, Grace Carpenter and Michelle Pennington

Summary

Project REACH OUT was a study funded by FEMA to evaluate an adaptation of an empirically-validated intervention known as Motivational Interviewing among firefighters. Adaptive Motivational Interviewing Training (AMIT) represented an ideal, cost-effective intervention because firefighters could be trained to use AMIT to encourage fellow firefighters to seek out appropriate treatment when needed. This study aimed to decrease firefighter mortality and morbidity by: (1) Evaluating the relative efficacy of Adaptive Motivational Interviewing Training (AMIT) compared to a control condition equated for time; and (2) Determining the most efficacious method of AMIT delivery (peer- and counselor-led vs. video-based). Participants included 172 career firefighters who reported an interest in learning behavioral health intervention skills. Participants were randomly assigned to a peer- and counselor-led AMIT condition, a computer-based AMIT condition, or a computer-based behavioral health awareness control condition. Measures assessing AMIT skills, frequency of interventions and behavioral health knowledge were administered before and after the trainings and at 3- and 6-month follow-ups.

The overall findings show that Condition 2 was the most effective means of training based on frequency and effectiveness of interventions. This method has several advantages over the traditional group format used in Condition 1, including lower cost and greater ease in dissemination compared to live training groups. Dissemination modalities include mailing DVDs to fire departments, uploading videos to websites, and showing the video as part of regularly scheduled continuing education trainings for firefighters.

Using this sample combined with the ASD sample, Carpenter et al (2015) found that in firefighters who indicated low social support in their lives, occupational stress showed a positive association to suicidal ideation; however, in firefighters with high social support the two were unrelated, indicating that social support may act as a buffer between occupational stress and suicidal ideation.

Presentations

Gulliver, S. B., Denman, T., Thomason, P. Pennington, M., Maness, A., Gomez, D., Leto, F., Cammarata, C., Zimering, R. T., Ostiguy, W., & Kimbrel, N. (2016, November).Teaching firefighters AMIT: Effective methods of peer training. Poster presented at the 32nd annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Dallas, TX.

Torres, V. A., Pennington, M. L., Synett, S. J., Kimbrel, N., & Gulliver, S. B. (2015, April). Project reach out results: Who do firefighters try to help? Poster presented at the 36th annual meeting of Society of Behavioral Medicine, San Antonio, TX.*

Torres, V. A., Pennington, M. L., Synett, S. J., Kimbrel, N., Brown, J. M., & Gulliver, S. B. (2015, May). Project Reach Out Results: Who do firefighters try to help? Poster presented at the 3rd Annual Meeting of Scott and White Academic Operations Research Days, Temple, TX.

Note: * indicates abstract was published.

Publicaciones

Carpenter, G. S. J., Carpenter, T. P., Kimbrel, N. A., Flynn, E. J., Pennington, M. L., Zimering, R. T., Kamholz, B. W., & Gulliver, S. B. (2015). Social support, stress, and suicidal ideation in professional firefighters. American Journal of Health Behavior, 39(2), 191-196.

Gulliver, S. B., Cammarata, C. M., Leto, F., Ostiguy, W. J., Flynn, E. J., Carpenter, G. S. J., Kamholz, B. W., Zimering, R. T. & Kimbrel, N. A. (2015). Project reach out: A training program to increase behavioral health utilization among professional firefighters. International Journal of Stress Management, 23(1), 65-83. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039731

Kimbrel, N. A., Flynn, E. J., Carpenter, G. S. J., Cammarata, C. M., Leto, F., Ostiguy, W. J., Kamholz, B. W., Zimering, R. T., & Gulliver, S. B. (2015). Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and predictive validity for a Likert-based version of the Sources of Occupational Stress-14 (SOOS-14) Scale. Psychiatry Research, 228(3), 961-962.

About the project

One common issue military veterans and first responders face is the care of their own child in need. Our collaborator, retired Lt. William Ostiguy of Boston Fire Department, helped launch a recovery school which bears his name, William J. Ostiguy High School, in 2006. Although a number of these high schools exist in the state of Texas (notedly in Austin, McKinney, and Houston), none are close enough to support the recovery of adolescents in Waco and the surrounding communities. A recovery high school is a secondary school designed specifically to provide a sober and recovery-supportive learning environment for students who are in active recovery from alcohol and substance use disorder and other addictions with corresponding behavioral health issues.

WRI worked from 2017-2020 within the Waco community to build a recovery high school for the greater Waco area. Ultimately, the WRI team and community partners were unable to establish a recovery high school for the area. It became apparent that the timing of this project was not the right time for the community. WRI hopes to re-engage in this project in the future, should there be re-energized interest in the community.

Presentations

Maness, A. G., Coe, E., Ettinger, L., Woodall, S., Asikis, C., & Gulliver, S. B. (2020, June). Roadblocks, Potholes, U-turns, and Detours: The Road to Establishing a Recovery High School. Presented at the virtual 19th National Recovery Schools Conference.

Maness, A. G., Coe, E., Ettinger, L., Woodall, S., Ostiguy, W., & Gulliver, S. B. (2019, July). Barriers and solutions: Building a new recovery high school program in the land of Fixer Upper. Round table discussion presented at the 18th National Recovery Schools Conference, Boston, MA.

Dobani, F., Maness, A. G., Pennington, M. L., Coe, E., Meyer, E. C., Gulliver, S. B. (2019, May). Building a Continuum of Care: Recovery High School in Central Texas. Podium presentation at Baylor Scott & White Central Texas Scholar’s Day, Temple, TX.