Trauma exposure, branch of service, and physical injury in relation to mental health among U.S. veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Significant mental health symptoms are reported in troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan (OEF/OIF). Symptomatic troops are more likely to be discharged and become eligible for Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) care. Prevalence and predictors of mental health symptoms were assessed in 339 OEF/OIF veterans and reservists registering at the San Diego DVA. Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing combat exposure, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom frequency and severity, depression, and substance and alcohol abuse. A minority of participants (36%) did not screen positive for mental health symptoms; the remainder met threshold for caseness of PTSD, depression, or substance and alcohol abuse. Using a hierarchical logistic regression model, gender, age, race, and rank were not significantly related to PTSD caseness, whereas most recent branch of service and report of injury during combat were. Follow-up analyses revealed that trauma history and combat exposure varied by branch of service. Knowledge of base rates and vulnerability factors can aid in rapid detection of "at risk" individuals.
Baker
Dewleen G
DG
University of California, San Diego, Department of Psychiatry, 9500 Gilman Dr., MC 0603 La Jolla, CA 92093-0603, USA.
Heppner
Pia
P
Afari
Niloofar
N
Nunnink
Sarah
S
Kilmer
Michael
M
Simmons
Alan
A
Harder
Laura
L
Bosse
Brandon
B
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D055826:Afghan Campaign 2001-; D000346:Afghanistan; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007493:Iraq; D054542:Iraq War, 2003-2011; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008889:Military Personnel; D008890:Military Psychiatry; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011594:Psychometrics; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs; D014728:Veterans; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000150:complications*