Using Mindfulness to Manage Moral Injury in Veterans: Feasibility and Satisfaction of a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Authors

Michelle L. Kelley, Old Dominion UniversityFollow
Adrian J. Bravo, William & Mary
Elizabeth E. Burgin, William & Mary
Susan A. Gaylord, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Christine Vinci, Moffitt Cancer Center
Megan Strowger, Old Dominion UniversityFollow
Jeffrey M. Gabelmann, Old Dominion UniversityFollow
Joseph M. Currier, University of South Alabama

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

DOI

10.1002/jclp.23778

Publication Title

Journal of Clinical Psychology

Volume

Article in Press

Pages

9 pp.

Abstract

Objective

The present study assessed program feasibility and satisfaction among recent-era veterans who participated in Mindfulness to Manage Moral Injury (MMMI), a live facilitated web-based 7-week mindfulness-based program targeting moral injury among veterans.

Method

In total, 56 post-9/11 veterans were recruited with 28 randomized to the MMMI condition and 28 to the Education and Support (ES) condition. Most participants identified as being White (71.4%), male (66.1%), and had a reported mean age of 41.50 years (Median = 39.50, SD = 9.26).

Results

Among the 56 participants, 82.1% attended at least one treatment session and 44.6% completed all seven sessions. There were no significant differences in the average number of sessions attended between the MMMI (M = 4.79, SD = 2.70) and the ES (M = 4.68, SD = 2.84) conditions, t(54) = 0.145, p = 0.87. Regarding randomization, there were no statistically significant differences on almost all demographic (i.e., years in military, gender, ethnicity) characteristics and baseline scores on all outcomes across treatment conditions, thus ensuring randomization was adequately met. Of the 56 who consented, 41 (73.21%) completed most study components (i.e., completed baseline and follow-up surveys, at least 1 weekly survey, and attended at least one treatment session). Regarding treatment satisfaction, individuals in the MMMI condition reported higher treatment satisfaction (Cohen's d = 0.66).

Conclusions

Preliminary findings suggest MMMI is feasible and acceptable and may be able to reach veterans who may not seek traditional Veterans Affairs Medical Center care or who prefer a web-based program. Given its promise for the treatment of moral injury among veterans, MMMI warrants additional large-scale clinical-trial testing.

Rights

© 2025 The Authors.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Data Availability

Article states: "The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in digital commons at https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/psychology_data/01."

Original Publication Citation

Kelley, M. L., Bravo, A. J., Burgin, E. E., Gaylord, S. A., Vinci, C., Strowger, M., Gabelmann, J. M., & Currier, J. M. (2025). Using Mindfulness to Manage Moral Injury in veterans: Feasibility and satisfaction of a pilot randomized controlled trial. Journal of Clinical Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23778

ORCID

0000-0003-3643-0419 (Kelley), 0000-0002-8476-5099 (Strowger), 0000-0002-3376-8134 (Gabelmann)

Repository Citation

Kelley, Michelle L.; Bravo, Adrian J.; Burgin, Elizabeth E.; Gaylord, Susan A.; Vinci, Christine; Strowger, Megan; Gabelmann, Jeffrey M.; and Currier, Joseph M., "Using Mindfulness to Manage Moral Injury in Veterans: Feasibility and Satisfaction of a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial" (2025). Psychology Faculty Publications. 218.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/psychology_fac_pubs/218