title: Post-traumatic stress disorder: review of the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program.
abstract: Since the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. military has implemented several population-based initiatives to enhance psychological resilience and prevent psychological morbidity in troops. The largest of these initiatives is the Army's Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) program, which has been disseminated to more than 1 million soldiers. However, to date, CSF has not been independently and objectively reviewed, and the degree to which it successfully promotes adaptive outcomes and prevents the development of deployment-related mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is uncertain. This paper critically evaluates the theoretic foundation for and evidence supporting the use of CSF.
authors.affiliation: VA Boston Healthcare System and the Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiological Research and Information Center, Boston, MA, USA. maria.steenkamp2@va.gov
authors.forename: Maria M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Steenkamp
authors.forename: William P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Nash
authors.forename: Brett T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Litz
mesh_terms: D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008887:Military Medicine; D008889:Military Personnel; D010809:Physical Fitness; D016730:Program Development; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014481:United States