Thesis--University of Washington. / Vita. Another copy has number: Thesis 27921. Bibliography: leaves [96]-99.

Recent global conflicts have increased North American military involvement, leading to higher rates of combat-related stress amongst soldiers. Although physical activity is directly correlated with improvements in mental health, the relationship between physical activity and combat-related stress has not been investigated. Using a mixed methodology approach, in this study, local military and ex-military personnel from Winnipeg, Canada, participated in a six week physical activity program in order to examine the influence of physical activity on combat-related stress. It was found that Canadian military members regularly deal with post-combat stressors, value camaraderie, and consider post-deployment support inadequate. The findings may lead to the integration of physical activity into the healing options of war related emotional stress. Future recommendations from this study are proposed. / February 2016

A review of literature, coupled with years of personal clinical experience treating combat veterans, particularly those serving in National Guard and Reserves, indicates a dearth of research on the impact repeated combat deployments have on veterans in their family relationships. Reintegration problems are too often manifested as work/life readjustment stress, family role adjustment issues, relational dysfunction, child neglect and abuse, and domestic violence. These pressing problems highlight the need for greater focus by behavioral health, healthcare, federal agencies and other non-governmental organizations to create reintegration protocols and programs that enable combat veterans to more successfully reintegrate within their marital and family relationships. This qualitative study utilized a single case-study approach to explore spousal perceptions of marital and family relationship disturbances resulting from repeated combat deployment and reintegration of long-term active-duty service members. Although based on the responses from one military spouse, four themes emerged from this study that are likely to be common for other spouses and families who live through repeated deployment cycles: choice, progression, adaptability, and acceptance. Based on these thematic findings, there must be a greater focus on feedback, insights, and constructive suggestions directly from service members, their spouses and children as related to coping more successfully with repeated deployments and reintegration cycles. The results of this research are expected to be useful for military officials, governmental agencies, counselors, educators, and other mental health service providers who engage with this at-risk population of service member and their families about more effective educational and treatment options that can improve comprehensive services. / Doctor of Education / A review of literature, coupled with years of personal clinical experience treating combat veterans, particularly those serving in National Guard and Reserves, indicates a lack of research on the impact repeated combat deployments have on veterans in their family relationships. Reintegration problems are too often manifested as work/life readjustment stress, family role adjustment issues, relational dysfunction, child neglect and abuse, and domestic violence. These pressing problems highlight the need for greater focus by behavioral health, healthcare, federal agencies and other non-governmental organizations to create reintegration protocols and programs that enable combat veterans to more successfully reintegrate within their marital and family relationships. This qualitative study utilized a single case-study approach to explore spousal perceptions of marital and family relationship disturbances resulting from repeated combat deployment and reintegration of long-term active-duty service members.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Educational Leadership / Sarah Jane Fishback / This study describes how combat experiences affected female Army officers who attended the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The female Army officers’ combat experiences were found to affect their academic learning, classroom experience, and coping mechanisms in a graduate-level professional military education. The themes identified included combat-related gender specific experiences and additional gender themes related to learning in a male-dominated military education environment. Nine female active duty Army officers who were attending CGSC participated in this research with each having a minimum of two combat tours. In addition, two active duty Army CGSC military instructors with multiple combat tours and two behavioral counselors specializing in military patients were also interviewed. The findings of this case study indicated that combat experiences affect t a degree the female students who served in the Army in Iraq and Afghanistan. The level of perceived academic stress was contingent upon the impact of the CGSC classroom environment, personal combat experiences, prior education, gender related combat stress, and other factors. Also, the learning experience of female students at CGSC was influenced due to marginalization in the classroom, instructor biases, and two-female limitations. This study contributes the continued research on effects of combat on adult learning, specifically adding to the limited works on being a female serving in the Army.

Thesis advisor: James E. Lubben / This study examined the roles cohesion, coping, and perceived threat have in buffering the effect of war-zone stress on mental health symptoms. Specifically, six factors were tested as potential moderators of the relationship between combat-related stressors and posttraumatic stress symptomatology (PTSS), including horizontal (peer) cohesion, vertical (NCO) cohesion, vertical (officer) cohesion, problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and perceived threat. In addition, direct effects and curvilinear interaction effects were examined. This study was a secondary analysis of Mental Health Advisory Team (MHAT) VI data collected by military researchers as part of an ongoing effort to assess soldiers' behavioral health. This study analyzed data from a total of 1,824 male and female U.S. Army soldiers from 15 active-duty brigades who anonymously completed the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) Deployment Well-Being Survey during their deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). PTSS, combat-related stressors, horizontal (peer) cohesion, vertical (NCO) cohesion, vertical (officer) cohesion, problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and perceived threat were measured. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to identify both risk factors and protective factors for PTSS. The analysis revealed three risk factors and four protective factors. During a war-zone deployment, higher levels of combat-related stressors, problem-focused coping, and perceived threat (i.e., risk factors) were independently associated with greater report of PTSS. Higher levels of horizontal (peer) cohesion, vertical (NCO) cohesion, vertical (officer) cohesion, and emotion-focused coping (i.e., protective factors) were independently associated with decreased levels of PTSS. Hierarchical moderated multiple regression analysis indicated that vertical (NCO) cohesion, vertical (officer) cohesion, and emotion-focused coping buffered the effect of combat-related stressors on PTSS; soldiers higher in vertical (NCO) cohesion, vertical (officer) cohesion, and emotion-focused coping showed weaker relationships between combat-related stressors and PTSS. No support for curvilinear interaction effects were found, suggesting that for this population of soldiers deployed to Iraq, the moderating effect of vertical cohesion and emotion-focused coping on the relationship between combat-related stressors and PTSS is linear in nature. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

Since the establishment of the individual augmentee role within the U.S. Navy, little research has examined this nontraditional role associated with combat units. The majority of combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) research has been dedicated to Army and Marine Corps personnel with little research conducted on the Navy population. The purpose of this nonexperimental study was to identify the prevalence of combat-related PTSD symptomology for Navy personnel returning from an augmentee tour. The link between component and tour length and the presence of individual resilience factors on PTSD were examined. The theoretical foundation of this research included the cognitive link between the single and multiple exposures to traumatic events and the automatic conditioned responses related to the combat-related trauma using a retrospective view of archival datasets. Data analysis included a chi square test of independence and factoral analysis of variance to identify the combat-related PTSD symptoms and its associated variables. The sample size was a stratified random sampling of 570 cases. The results of this analysis support an association between location of tours and PTSD symptomology as well as a small effect between number of deployments and PTSD symptomology irrespective of status. These results will benefit the U.S. Navy enlisted personnel by increasing the awareness of a trend in combat-related PTSD, identify protective factors in resilience, and showcase the need for greater focus of these issues within Navy policy and leadership.

xi, 56 p. : ill. (some col.) / To investigate resilience against combat stress, 175 interviews from the Veterans' History Project were coded using the Deployment Risk and Resiliency Inventory and analyzed using the Linguistic Inventory and Word Count. Contrary to hypotheses, higher levels of social support did not predict psychological outcomes, nor did social support differ between wars. Low variance in the social support measure likely contributed to the null results. The amount of combat experiences the veteran discussed did significantly predict psychological outcomes, replicating previous findings. This indicates that the LIWC measures are good indicators of psychological outcome. / Committee in charge: Holly Arrow, Chairperson; Jennifer Freyd, Member; Phil Fisher, Member

War inevitably impacts on the lives of soldiers who participate in them. The impact often suggests a negative nature, leaving some soldiers with permanent physical and emotional scars. Some soldiers will return from war suffering from several psychological disorders as the result of their exposure to combat trauma. Pathologies such as post-traumatic stress disorders, anxiety and mood disorders are not uncommon. Yet, for others war has provided them with numerous positive experiences from which they can find meaning for themselves. It was Aaron Antonovsky who developed the idea of salutogenesis, mainly focussing on the psychological factors that allow individuals to find meaning in their adversity. This study attempts to investigate the impact of service rendered in the South African Special Forces during the Angolan war on current levels of well-being and sense of coherence amongst former Special Forces members. It is commonly known that these soldiers were exposed to severe battle related conditions, often working behind enemy lines for unknown periods of time whilst being self-reliant. It would seem that most of these soldiers have adapted adequately to society 15 years after their participation in the Angolan war (South Africa’s “Border War”). Some of these soldiers have achieved success in many different ways after leaving Special Forces. Some have embarked into the world of business and others chose professional careers and then there are those who became successful entrepreneurs. A sample of 32 respondents was collected. All of the respondents were members of the South African Special Forces during the Angolan war but have resigned since. The respondents were requested to complete a questionnaire consisting of a biographical information section, Antonovsky’s 13-item Orientation to Life Questionnaire (OLQ) and Diener’s Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). The purpose was to determine the respondents’ current sense of coherence and level of well-being and to determine to what extent service in Special Forces has contributed to these levels. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Inferential statistics included Chi-square, Fisher’s exact test, Spearman correlation coefficient and the t-test. Analysis of data suggests that the sample currently measures high on both levels of sense of coherence and well-being. The means of both OLQ and SWLS of this sample compare higher to any other samples they were administered to. However, statistically no clear correlation could be determined between service rendered in Special Forces and current levels of well-being. Respondents did however indicate that they feel that their service in Special Forces did have a positive impact on their lives and their current levels of functioning. / Dissertation (MA (Clinical Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Psychology / unrestricted

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Educational Leadership / Sarah Jane Fishback / A new group of learners is emerging in the adult learning environment as a result of the United States being at war for more than 10 years. More than two million warriors served in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). Educational institutions across the United States are experiencing growing numbers of students who are military combat veterans of the GWOT. These numbers will continue to grow as more of them transition back into life after combat. These students are arriving in class with varying levels of combat trauma experience and possibly Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), major depression, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) or a combination of these and other difficulties. The purpose of this research was to learn from military veteran students how their combat experience affects them in the classroom. Specifically it looked at the types of combat experiences they have and the types of physical and mental effects they report experiencing while attending and participating in educational learning activities. This research h sought to gain insight into how combat experience influences the learning experience for GWOT military combat veterans who participate in an educational learning environment. It explored the types of experiences these students bring into that learning environment and how their participation in learning activities is affected.

<p>14 juni 2007 beslutade regeringen att tillkalla en särskild utredare med uppdrag att utforma förslag till en svensk veteranpolitik, som skulle innefatta ansvaret för personalen före, under och efter internationella militära insatser. Utredningen, som tog namnet Veteransoldatutredningen, lämnade i oktober 2008 sitt slutbetänkande. Syftet med denna uppsats var att kritiskt granska utredningens förslag till förbättring i frågan om psykologisk ohälsa, stressprevention, inför insats och med utgångspunkt i litteraturen försöka förutsäga om förslaget skulle komma att ge effekt</p><p> Metodvalen i denna uppsats har utgjorts av kvalitativ textanalys samt deskription. Tyngdpunkten i essän ligger i att definiera stressreaktioner samt åtgärder för stressprevention. Därefter följer analysen för att kunna se om det finns en förankring i aktuell forskning, och mot slutet granskas om förslagen kommer att ge effekt.</p><p>I uppsatsen söktes svar på följande frågeställningar:</p><p>-          Finns det en förankring i förslagen från Veteransoldatutredningen i aktuell forskning med inriktning på preventiva åtgärder?</p><p>-          Är det rimligt att anta att med stöd av aktuell forskning att förslagen kan förebygga psykisk ohälsa efter internationell insats?</p><p>De viktigaste slutsatserna som har dragits från denna studie är:</p><p>Förslagen från veteransoldatutredningen finns till del förankrade i aktuell litteratur. De förslag som väntas kunna förebygga psykisk ohälsa efter internationell insats är som följer.</p><p>-          En förbättrad och mer effektiv rekrytering genom större personlig kontakt medger en noggrannare rekrytering som gör att man får rätt människor, på rätt plats med godkända vitsord samt psykisk lämplighet och detta minskar i sin tur risken för stressreaktioner.</p><p>-          Utökad och bättre information till allmänheten från den politiska ledningen och från Försvarsmakten om missioner minskar förhoppningsvis samhällets opposition genom att öka förståelsen för Försvarsmakten och dess uppgifter. Detta nedbringar i sin tur den kumulativa stress i soldatens vardag p g a externa stressorer från samhälle och media.</p><p>-          Ytterligare utbildning i mänskliga rättigheter och krigets lagar bidrar till att skapa trygghet i vad soldater får - och inte får - göra. Genom dylik utbildning kan frustrationen, som uppstår då soldaterna inte vet hur de skall hantera specifika situationer, minskas. </p> / <p>This essay - <em>Veteransoldatutredningen – a review of its proposals for improving the matter of mental ill-health</em> – is written by cadet Josefine Nilsson. The aim is to study the <em>Veteransoldatutredning’</em>s suggestions for improvement when it comes to e.g. stress prevention and psychological ill-health ahead on an international mission.</p><p>The methods used are description and trial of a hypothesis. Through a study of the immediate literature and by analyzing the proposals, my conclusions are that an improved and more efficient recruitment allows for a more accurate recruitment; increased and better information to the public from the political body and from the Armed Forces will reduce external stress that the soldiers sometime feel, and also that additional education in human rights and the law of war contributes to create a security in what the soldiers can, and can not do.</p>