SERV Study: Survey of Experiences of Returning Veterans

Program Announcement: SERV Study Launched 

VISN 1 is pleased to announce that Dr. Rani Hoff, PhD, MPH has been awarded VA funding from the US Department of Veteran Affairs to conduct this 5-year project to determine whether there are gender differences in how male and female military combat veterans readjust to civilian life.

Objective

An unprecedented number of women have been exposed to combat in the current Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. There is some concern that women are more susceptible to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than men due to prior traumatic experiences. In addition, post-deployment readjustment could be compounded by specific trauma women may have experienced while serving in the military.

This is the first major project to study this phenomenon.

Investigators

Dr. Rani Hoff, PhD, MPH 

Dr. Hoff is a MIRECC investigator at VA CT Healthcare System as well as acting director of the Northeast Program Evaluation Center (NEPEC).

In addition, she is also an associate professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and director of the Women and Trauma research core of Women’s Health Research at Yale (WHRY.)

Carolyn Mazure, PhD - Co-Investigator

Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology, and Director of Women’s Health Research at Yale.

Sherry McKee, PhD - Co-Investigator

Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine

Crystal Park, PhD - Co-Investigator

Professor of Psychology at University of Connecticut

Current Status

We have now interviewed over 325 Veterans across the country. Many of them are now completing 3-, 6-, 9-, 12  and 18-month follow up surveys. We are very glad that our participants are willing to take our telephone calls, and we are grateful for the information they are providing.

Our goal is 1200 to 1500 participants, so we still have plenty of opportunities for new people to enroll.

For interested Veterans

If you are a Veteran who has been deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan or surrounding waters AND are separated from military service, you may qualify for this study whether or not you have PTSD. You are paid between $40 and $60 for each telephone interview you complete. You should know that this is NOT a treatment study; rather, it is an observational study. This means that the information you provide will not benefit you directly, but may someday help other Veterans with similar experiences. It is entirely voluntary and consists of five telephone interviews over the course of one year. You also have the option of remaining with the study for several more years if you wish; this involves only two telephone calls per year, and you earn $60 for each call completed.

You may contact the study by completing the form on our study contact page here.

For more information, please contact the project coordinator:
Elizabeth Dombrowski
elizabeth.dombrowski@va.gov
Study email address: SERVStudy1@gmail.com
(203) 932-5711 ext. 3730