Veteran mental health : the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy and men’s experiences of problematic eating and exercise behaviours

This thesis is comprised of three chapters exploring veterans’ mental health. Chapter I provides a narrative synthesis and statistical analysis of available literature exploring the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in improving psychological flexibility in military veterans. 24 studies (comprising of 25 samples) were included in the narrative synthesis and 10 study findings were statistically compared. In summary, ACT appears to be effective at improving psychological flexibility in military veterans with a range of presenting difficulties and demographics. The long-term effects are less clear. There are several methodological cautions which should be considered alongside these findings. Clinical implications, study and report limitations and future research directions are outlined. Chapter II is an empirical qualitative study exploring male veterans’ experiences of problematic eating and exercise behaviours. Interviews were conducted with 18 veterans and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Four themes were generated: “It goes back to my days in the military”, “My sort of drug to manage those things”, “It just takes over your life” and “It makes me feel ashamed, it makes me feel secretive”. Research, theoretical and clinical significance of the findings are discussed, as well as limitations and areas for future research. Chapter III offers a reflective account of the researcher’s journey using Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Systems Theory. The researcher considers the influence of direct and indirect relationships, environments, larger systems, context, cultural values and time on their research journey and development.