Skip to content

Successful Transitions and Reintegration Tools for Veterans (START-VETS)

Development of a Psycho-social Transition Program and Transition Assessment Tools for Veterans With Mental Illness and/or Substance Use Disorders Leaving Prison

Status
Recruiting
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04366531
Acronym
START-VET
Enrollment
20
Registered
2020-04-29
Start date
2020-08-03
Completion date
2026-12-31
Last updated
2025-09-26

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Mental Illness, Recently Incarcerated, Substance Use Disorder

Keywords

reentry, Mental illness, prison, substance use disorder

Brief summary

This study will develop prison reentry materials for Veterans leaving prison.

Detailed description

This study will be conducted in three phases Phase 1 is to collect qualitative data from Veterans who have recently been released from prison. The data will focus on their transition experience, stigma (both self and from others), and behaviors that interfered with success. Phase 2a will be to develop a transition program based around the needs identified in phase 1 Phase 2b will be to develop assessment tools to be used with the program Phase 3 will be to perform a two group randomized cross over design pilot study to assess the program

Interventions

BEHAVIORALSTART-VET

prison reentry program

OTHERTreatment as usual

This intervention involves no additional services above what is provided by the local health care system

Sponsors

VA Office of Research and Development
Lead SponsorFED

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Intervention model description

Veterans will be randomly assigned to either begin an eight week (actual number of weeks is to be determined based on phase 2) active treatment program or to a no treatment phase. At eight weeks veterans will switch the condition they were assigned.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Veteran with mental illness and/or substance use disorder released from prison within the past 36 months

Exclusion criteria

* psychosis or cognitive impairment precluding active participation

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in the Brief Symptom Inventory -18The Brief Symptom Inventory will be administered at the baseline of the subject's participation and again every 4 weeks for 16 weeks.The Brief Symptom Inventory - 18 evaluates the domains of Somatization, Depression, and Anxiety. Each scale has 6 items, with a range of 0-24. Higher indicates a higher amount of the identified construct, i.e a worse outcome.
Change in the World Health Organization Quality of Life 100The World Health Organization Quality of Live 100 will be administered at the baseline of the subject's participation and again every 4 weeks for 16 weeks.The World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 is a overall measure quality of life for participants. It has 5 domains: Physical (12 items, range 12-60), Psychological (18 items, range 18-90), Independence (16 items, range 16 - 80), Social (12 items, range 12-60), Environment (32 items, range 32-160), and Spiritual (4 items, range 4-20). Higher indicates higher levels of quality of life.
Inventory of Criminal Thinking StyleThe Inventory of Criminal Thinking Style will be administered at the baseline of the subject's participation and again every 4 weeks for 16 weeks.The Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) is an 80-item self-report inventory designed to measure eight thinking styles presumed to reinforce, support, and maintain a criminal lifestyle. The eight thinking styles assessed by the PICTS are Mollification, Cutoff, Entitlement, Power Orientation, Superoptimism, Sentimentality, Cognitive Indolence, and Discontinuity. There are 10 items on each scale with scale scores ranging from 0 - 30. Higher indicates worse outcomes

Countries

United States

Contacts

Primary ContactApril Crawford, MS
april.crawford@va.gov(214) 857-2571

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026