title: Mental health among commando, airborne and other UK infantry personnel.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite having high levels of combat exposure, commando and airborne forces may be at less risk of mental ill-health than other troops.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine differences in mental health outcomes and occupational risk factors between Royal Marines Commandos (RMCs), paratroopers (PARAs) and other army infantry (INF).
  
  
  METHODS
  Three groups of personnel (275 RMCs, 202 PARAs and 572 INF) were generated from a UK military cohort study of personnel serving at the time of the 2003 Iraq war. Participants completed a questionnaire about their mental health and experiences on deployment. Differences in mental health outcomes between the groups were examined with logistic regression and negative binomial regression analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both RMCs and PARAs were less likely to have multiple physical symptoms or to be fatigued, and RMCs also had lower levels of general mental health problems and lower scores on the Post-traumatic Checklist than INF personnel. Differences were not explained by the level of unit cohesion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The effect of warfare on troops' well-being is not universal across occupational groups. A possible explanation for this difference is that the high level of preparedness in RMCs and PARAs may lessen the psychological impact of war-zone deployment experiences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London SE5 9RJ, UK. Josefin.sundin@kcl.ac.uk
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sundin
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Greenberg
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Rona
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hotopf
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wessely
authors.forename: N T
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Fear
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005221:Fatigue / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D054542:Iraq War, 2003-2011; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D057545:Social Stigma; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology
references.citation: Lancet. 2010 May 22;375(9728):1783-97
references.pmid: 20471076
references.citation: Psychol Bull. 1995 Nov;118(3):392-404
references.pmid: 7501743
references.citation: J Trauma Stress. 2009 Feb;22(1):11-9
references.pmid: 19145644
references.citation: Occup Environ Med. 2008 Sep;65(9):628-33
references.pmid: 18178589
references.citation: Br J Psychiatry. 2005 Jun;186:536-7
references.pmid: 15928366
references.citation: Mil Med. 2007 Sep;172(9):931-5
references.pmid: 17937355
references.citation: Am J Epidemiol. 2008 Jun 1;167(11):1269-76
references.pmid: 18436536
references.citation: J Trauma Stress. 2010 Feb;23(1):69-77
references.pmid: 20104587
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 2004 Jul 1;351(1):13-22
references.pmid: 15229303
references.citation: Psychol Med. 2008 Apr;38(4):511-22
references.pmid: 18226287
references.citation: Psychol Bull. 2003 Jan;129(1):52-73
references.pmid: 12555794
references.citation: J R Nav Med Serv. 2004;90(3):117-24
references.pmid: 15745257
references.citation: Am J Prev Med. 2007 Aug;33(2):77-82
references.pmid: 17673093
references.citation: J Subst Abuse Treat. 2007 Jul;33(1):25-32
references.pmid: 17588486
references.citation: Public Health Rep. 2009 Jan-Feb;124(1):90-102
references.pmid: 19413031
references.citation: Lancet. 2006 May 27;367(9524):1731-41
references.pmid: 16731268
references.citation: Br J Psychiatry. 2005 Jun;186:459-66
references.pmid: 15928354
references.citation: Br J Psychiatry. 2007 Dec;191:506-11
references.pmid: 18055954
references.citation: Multivariate Behav Res. 1991 Jul 1;26(3):457-77
references.pmid: 26776713
references.citation: J Psychosom Res. 1993;37(2):147-53
references.pmid: 8463991
references.citation: Ergonomics. 2008 May;51(5):649-62
references.pmid: 18432443