Procedure
Potential participants were recruited via a marketing firm that
specializes in recruitment for clinical health research (n = 41),
student announcements at two universities (n = 15), and word of
mouth (n = 7). See Figure 1 for the CONSORT flowchart. After
completing an online screening survey, potential participants met with a
research assistant in an online platform meeting during which the
participant was verbally screened, the study focus and random assignment
were explained, veteran status was verified via display of their veteran
identification card, and consent was obtained. Next, the research
assistant collected demographic information (e.g., age, service branch)
and ensured the participant’s understanding of basic platform functions.
Given that military specialty may differ for women (e.g., infantry) and
gender differences in prevalence of exposure to potentially morally
injurious events and outcomes (Maguen et al., 2020), we matched on
gender and then randomly assigned to conditions.