Pilot study of an English language coaching opportunity for volunteering among US military Veterans with depression, anxiety, and/or post-traumatic stress disorder

Many military Veterans experience mood and anxiety disorders and might benefit from purposeful social interactions. In this pilot study, we evaluated a program in which Veterans with these disorders provided coaching via webcam for English-language learners (ELLs). Veterans with depression, anxiety, and/or PTSD and ELLs were recruited online. Pairs participated in up to 8 videoconferencing sessions. Pre-post measures of Veterans' mental health included the PHQ-8, GAD-7, PCL-5, and a scale of "mattering." Volunteers and ELLs completed satisfaction surveys, and ELLs reported their comfort and fluency with English. Veterans (N=26) were on average 49.6 years old (SD: 15.2), 57.7% were men, and 53.9% reported that they often experienced a lack of companionship or social isolation. Pairs completed on average 6.2 sessions. Satisfaction in both groups was high, and 73.1% of participants said that they planned to keep in touch. Mean scores improved for Veterans' symptoms of depression (from 10.6 to 7.6, P=.0001), anxiety (from 9.0 to 6.5, P=.001), and PTSD (from 29.2 to 22.8, P=.0007). The proportion of Veterans with at least moderate symptoms improved for depression (61.5% to 38.5%; P=.014) and anxiety (38.5% to 19.2%; P=.025). Mattering scores improved (P=.008). ELLs reported improvements in their English comfort and fluency. This was an uncontrolled pilot trial with short-term outcomes designed primarily to evaluate the feasibility of the intervention rather than test hypotheses about effect sizes. This intervention may represent a scalable opportunity for Veterans to increase positive socialization and reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD.