Psychological Aspects of Deployment and Health Behaviours (Aspects psychologiques de la projection operationnelle et comportements lies a la sante)
Abstract
Background: Health risk behaviours are important threats to operational effectiveness and force sustainability in military organizations, and there is evidence that at least some deployments are associated with an increase of at least some of these behaviours. Method: A preliminary literature review and some original research identified three health risk behaviours of greatest relevance to military organizations based on their health impact and evidence of association with deployment: Tobacco use, high-risk drinking, and risky driving. Results: In-depth literature review and some original research confirmed the causal association of at least some deployments on these behaviours. Possible common mechanisms for this association include distress and mental disorders and changes in risk perception/risk tolerance. Conclusions: Research on deployment and health risk behaviours should focus on tobacco use, risky drinking, and risky driving as top priorities. Military organizations should tackle these health risk behaviours as public health problems affecting the military as a whole as opposed to as deployment health problems. Mitigation of distress and mental disorders may help attenuate health risk behaviours, but the expected magnitude of this effect is small. For this reason, these health risk behaviours should be specifically targeted with methods of proven efficacy, and the military should leverage the unusual d
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA562950
Entities
Organizations
- NATO Science and Technology Organization