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Smartphone app-delivered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for post-traumatic stress disorder and gambling harm in veterans: A pilot feasibility study

Jess Williams, Conor Heath, Daniel Leightley, Dominic Murphy, Simon Dymond Orcid Logo

Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, Volume: 38, Start page: 100956

Swansea University Authors: Jess Williams, Conor Heath, Simon Dymond Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.jcbs.2025.100956

Abstract

Gambling harm and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) appear to be prevalent among veterans. Globally, help-seeking rates for gambling are low, and veterans may experience obstacles in accessing mental health support due to stigma. Digital health interventions may increase treatment uptake and imp...

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Published in: Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science
ISSN: 2212-1447 2212-1455
Published: Elsevier BV 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70693
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last_indexed 2025-12-05T18:10:05Z
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spelling 2025-12-04T12:39:05.8998667 v2 70693 2025-10-16 Smartphone app-delivered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for post-traumatic stress disorder and gambling harm in veterans: A pilot feasibility study 03415d4e006da3286f4bd0a26db83d84 Jess Williams Jess Williams true false 6eeecd35963de043215912c7e5a6df8a Conor Heath Conor Heath true false 8ed0024546f2588fdb0073a7d6fbc075 0000-0003-1319-4492 Simon Dymond Simon Dymond true false 2025-10-16 Gambling harm and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) appear to be prevalent among veterans. Globally, help-seeking rates for gambling are low, and veterans may experience obstacles in accessing mental health support due to stigma. Digital health interventions may increase treatment uptake and improve outcomes for veterans. Here, we report findings from a pilot feasibility study of a novel smartphone application-based intervention, “ACT Vet”, based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for veterans experiencing PTSD symptoms, gambling harm, or both. A 10-week, within-subjects design was employed with 24 veterans (21 men, 2 women, 1 undisclosed; Mage = 45.29 years; SD = 10.70). Outcome measures assessed PTSD symptoms, gambling severity, psychological flexibility, anxiety, alcohol use, suicidality, and loneliness. We also examined participants’ quality of life and app usability and acceptability ratings. Findings demonstrated significant reductions in both PTSD and gambling symptoms across the intervention, with a corresponding increase in psychological flexibility. Alcohol use also decreased post-intervention. High usability scores suggest the app was well-received by participants. Overall, the sustained improvements post-intervention indicates the successful deployment of ACT-based methods in an app format. ACT Vet has potential scalability as a first-line digital intervention for PTSD and/or gambling harm. Journal Article Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science 38 100956 Elsevier BV 2212-1447 2212-1455 Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT); Veterans; Gambling harm; Psychological flexibility; Digital health 31 10 2025 2025-10-31 10.1016/j.jcbs.2025.100956 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) Office for Veterans’ Affairs (Health Innovation Fund) 2025-12-04T12:39:05.8998667 2025-10-16T08:50:33.7088130 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Psychology Jess Williams 1 Conor Heath 2 Daniel Leightley 3 Dominic Murphy 4 Simon Dymond 0000-0003-1319-4492 5 70693__35579__be764978124547c49905da54819f527d.pdf 70693.VOR.pdf 2025-11-07T09:12:33.3982491 Output 4488839 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Smartphone app-delivered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for post-traumatic stress disorder and gambling harm in veterans: A pilot feasibility study
spellingShingle Smartphone app-delivered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for post-traumatic stress disorder and gambling harm in veterans: A pilot feasibility study
Jess Williams
Conor Heath
Simon Dymond
title_short Smartphone app-delivered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for post-traumatic stress disorder and gambling harm in veterans: A pilot feasibility study
title_full Smartphone app-delivered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for post-traumatic stress disorder and gambling harm in veterans: A pilot feasibility study
title_fullStr Smartphone app-delivered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for post-traumatic stress disorder and gambling harm in veterans: A pilot feasibility study
title_full_unstemmed Smartphone app-delivered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for post-traumatic stress disorder and gambling harm in veterans: A pilot feasibility study
title_sort Smartphone app-delivered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for post-traumatic stress disorder and gambling harm in veterans: A pilot feasibility study
author_id_str_mv 03415d4e006da3286f4bd0a26db83d84
6eeecd35963de043215912c7e5a6df8a
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author_id_fullname_str_mv 03415d4e006da3286f4bd0a26db83d84_***_Jess Williams
6eeecd35963de043215912c7e5a6df8a_***_Conor Heath
8ed0024546f2588fdb0073a7d6fbc075_***_Simon Dymond
author Jess Williams
Conor Heath
Simon Dymond
author2 Jess Williams
Conor Heath
Daniel Leightley
Dominic Murphy
Simon Dymond
format Journal article
container_title Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science
container_volume 38
container_start_page 100956
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 2212-1447
2212-1455
doi_str_mv 10.1016/j.jcbs.2025.100956
publisher Elsevier BV
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str School of Psychology{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Psychology
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description Gambling harm and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) appear to be prevalent among veterans. Globally, help-seeking rates for gambling are low, and veterans may experience obstacles in accessing mental health support due to stigma. Digital health interventions may increase treatment uptake and improve outcomes for veterans. Here, we report findings from a pilot feasibility study of a novel smartphone application-based intervention, “ACT Vet”, based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for veterans experiencing PTSD symptoms, gambling harm, or both. A 10-week, within-subjects design was employed with 24 veterans (21 men, 2 women, 1 undisclosed; Mage = 45.29 years; SD = 10.70). Outcome measures assessed PTSD symptoms, gambling severity, psychological flexibility, anxiety, alcohol use, suicidality, and loneliness. We also examined participants’ quality of life and app usability and acceptability ratings. Findings demonstrated significant reductions in both PTSD and gambling symptoms across the intervention, with a corresponding increase in psychological flexibility. Alcohol use also decreased post-intervention. High usability scores suggest the app was well-received by participants. Overall, the sustained improvements post-intervention indicates the successful deployment of ACT-based methods in an app format. ACT Vet has potential scalability as a first-line digital intervention for PTSD and/or gambling harm.
published_date 2025-10-31T05:33:29Z
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