Abstract
<p>Combat veterans experience increased incidences of depression, anxiety, and PTSD, along with challenges when adjusting to life post-discharge, but have been under-served using traditional mental health treatments. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has emerged as potentially therapeutic for combat veterans, although empirical support is lacking. A single-arm pre-post pilot study was used to evaluate seven psychosocial outcomes among participants from the We Defy Foundation program (n = 40; 87.5% male; Mage = 41.1, SD = 5.8). The primary outcomes measured were post-traumatic stress severity (PTSD Checklist for DSM-5; PCL-5), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9; PHQ-9), anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7; GAD-7), and Military-Civilian Transition Quality (M2CQ). Secondary outcomes included Self-Efficacy (General Self-Efficacy Scale; GSE), Functional Disability (World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule; WHODAS 2.0), and Life Satisfaction (Satisfaction with Life Scale; SWLS). Assessments were completed at baseline (T0), 3 months (T3; n = 34), and 6 months (T6; n = 23, final). Results revealed significant improvements in the four primary outcomes, which demonstrated high symptom severity scores at baseline, at both T3 (Cohen’s dz = .52-.63) and T6 (dz = .84-1.04) after applying the Benjamini-Hochberg False Discovery Rate (FDR) correction. Two of the three secondary outcomes achieved statistical significance at T3 (GSE and SWLS) and WHODAS became statistically significant at T6. These preliminary findings indicate BJJ participation resulted in positive accumulative mental health improvements for this veteran population and provides a promising therapeutic target for future studies.</p>