PTSD Symptoms, Life Events, and Unit Cohesion in U.S. Soldiers: Baseline Findings From the Neurocognition Deployment Health Study

Abstract

Relationships among a modifiable situational factor (unit cohesion), prior stressful life events, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were assessed in 1,579 U.S. Army soldiers with no history of contemporary war zone deployment. It was predicted that unit cohesion would attenuate the dose-response relationship between past stressor exposures and PTSD symptoms at relatively moderate levels of exposure. Consistent with this hypothesis, regression analysis revealed that life experiences and unit cohesion strongly and independently predicted PTSD symptoms, and that unit cohesion attenuated the impact of life expectancy on PTSD. Some military personnel reported significant predeployment, stress-related symptoms. These symptoms may serve as vulnerabilities that could potentially be activated by subsequent war-zone deployment. Higher predeployment unit cohesion levels appear to ameliorate such sumptoms, potentially lessening future vulnerability.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 2007
Accession Number
ADA472468

Entities

People

  • J. I. Constans
  • J. J. Vasterling
  • K. Brailey
  • M. J. Friedman
  • S. P. Proctor

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Cohesion
  • Data Science
  • Deployment
  • Diseases And Disorders
  • Information Science
  • Medical Personnel
  • Military Personnel
  • Regression Analysis
  • Vulnerability

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Psychological Intervention/Treatment for Stress, Anxiety, PTSD, and Related Emotional and Cognitive Health Symptoms.