title: Perceived military organizational support and peacekeeper distress: a longitudinal investigation.
abstract: Many professions vital to the safety of society require workers to face high magnitude and potentially traumatizing events. Because this routine exposure can cause high levels of stress in workers, it is important to investigate factors that contribute to both risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and healthy responses to stress. Although some research has found social support to mitigate the effects of posttraumatic stress symptoms, scant research has investigated organizational support. The aim of the present study is to investigate the temporal relationship between stress symptoms and perceived organizational support in a sample of 1,039 service members deployed to the peacekeeping mission to Kosovo. Participants completed self-report measures of stress symptoms and perceived organizational support at 4 study time points. Bivariate latent difference score structural equation modeling was utilized to examine the temporal relationship among stress and perceived organizational support. In general, across the 4 time points, latent PCL scores evidenced a salient and negative relationship to subsequent POS latent difference scores. However, no significant relationship was found between latent POS variables and subsequent PCL latent difference scores. Findings suggest that prior stress symptoms are influencing service member's perceptions of the supportiveness of their organization such that increased prior stress is associated with worsening perceptions of support. These results illustrate that targeting stress directly may potentiate the positive influence of organizational support and that institutional support programs should be adapted to better account for the negative biases increased distress may encourage.
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center.
authors.forename: J Ben
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of New South Wales.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9171-4209
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nickerson
authors.affiliation: U.S. Army Medical Research Unit-Europe, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
authors.forename: Amy B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Adler
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center.
authors.forename: Brett T
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0479-8887
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Litz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D063826:Kosovo; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008887:Military Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D008890:Military Psychiatry / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015233:Models, Statistical; D054704:Peace Corps; D010465:Perception; D057566:Self Report; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult