MIRECC / CoE

Publication Highlights

Articles and books authored by our affiliates enable us to share research and knowledge about mental health treatment with our Veteran, caregiver, provider, and research communities.

Highlighted Articles

Drs. Patricia Chen (first author), Natalie Hundt, Maribel Plasencia, and Terri Fletcher published “Whose job is it anyway? A qualitative study of providers' perspectives on diagnosing anxiety disorders in integrated health settings” in the Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research. This study examined the perspectives of mental health providers working in an integrated and stepped health care system. The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with 32 VHA mental health providers to understand their perspectives on diagnosing anxiety disorders. Results show that many providers feel making a specific diagnosis for anxiety is the responsibility of others—either those in other clinic settings or with other credentials. Findings call for clearer guidelines that specify individual clinician accountability for obtaining a specific anxiety diagnosis in a team-based environment.

Drs. Brandon Griffin (first author), Marcela (Marci) Weber, and Jeffrey (Jeff) Pyne published “A systematic review and meta-analysis of moral injury outcome measures” in Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry. The article summarizes the psychometric properties of scales that assess cognitive, emotional, social, and spiritual concerns linked to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) exposure. It uses meta-analysis to describe associations between these scales and measures of posttraumatic stress and depression. The authors reviewed 104 articles and reported results from 110 samples, in which 13 different scales were administered to assess the impacts of PMIE exposure (i.e., moral injury). Authors found that assessment of moral injury has progressed tremendously. Recent scales extend prior work that focused on whether respondents endorsed PMIE exposure by measuring the potential impacts of an exposure. Mental health clinicians and researchers can use this article to choose a scale that best fits their moral injury measurement needs.

Dr. Amanda Raines coauthored “Smoking as a marker of comorbid vulnerability among persons with probable posttraumatic stress disorder who engage in hazardous drinking” (first author: M. J. Zvolensky) in Substance Use & Misuse. The cross-sectional investigation sought to examine smoking status as a marker of risk among persons with probable PTSD who engage in hazardous drinking. Overall, the study found that smoking status among persons with probable PTSD who engaged in hazardous drinking was associated with numerous indicators of mental health and substance use vulnerability.

Last updated: July 21, 2025