OBJECTIVE In light of increased suicidal behaviors among military personnel and veterans since the initiation of combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, questions have been raised about the potential causal role of combat. The objective of the current study was to identify any direct or indirect effects of combat exposure on suicide risk through depression symptom severity, posttraumatic str...

OBJECTIVE The authors took advantage of a 50-year prospective study of World War II veterans to examine the predictors and correlates of combat exposure, symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and trait neuroticism. METHOD The subjects were 107 veterans who had been extensively studied before and immediately after serving overseas in World War II. All served as members of the study...

BACKGROUND Research of military personnel who deployed to the conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan has suggested that there are differences in mental health outcomes between UK and US military personnel. AIMS To compare the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), hazardous alcohol consumption, aggressive behaviour and multiple physical symptoms in US and UK military personnel deploye...

The association between exposure to multiple potentially traumatic events (PTEs) and subsequent increased risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is well established. However, less is known about the relation between exposure to numerous PTEs, as is typical with military service, and treatment outcome. Furthermore, there has been little research examining military specific protective fact...

OBJECTIVE To characterize the indirect associations of combat exposure with post-deployment physical symptoms through shared associations with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and insomnia symptoms. METHODS Surveys were administered to a sample of U.S. soldiers (N = 587) three months after a 15-month deployment to Iraq. A multiple indirect effects model was used to characteri...

OBJECTIVE Studies have shown a relationship between combat experiences and alcohol misuse in military personnel; it is not known if there are specific combat experiences that confer a greater risk. The current study examined the association of specific types of combat experiences with a positive screen for alcohol misuse. METHODS 1120 U.S. soldiers who were members of brigade combat infantry ...

OBJECTIVE To examine the association between the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism of the serotonin transporter (SLC6A4) gene, combat exposure, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis and among two samples of combat-exposed veterans. METHOD The first sample included 550 non-Hispanic Black (NHB) combat-exposed veterans. The second sample included 555 non-Hispanic White (NHW) combat-exposed vete...

While longitudinal posttraumatic stress responses are known to be heterogeneous, little is known about predictors of those responses. We investigated if locus of control (LOC) and coping style are associated with long-term PTSD-trajectories after exposure to combat. Six hundred and seventy five Israeli soldiers with or without combat stress reaction (CSR) from the Lebanon war were assessed 1, 2...

The purpose of this study was to examine whether appraisals of desirable and undesirable effects of military service mediated the effect of combat stress on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in later life in 1,287 male veterans, aged 44-91 years (M = 63.56, SD = 7.46), 40% of whom had been in combat. The men reported more desirable effects of military service (e.g., mastery, self-es...