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The Relationship Between Pre-Deployment Experiences of Interpersonal Violence and  Moral Injury: The Moderating Role of Social Support

Initial research on moral injury has shown the construct to be associated with many negative mental health outcomes such as depression, suicidal ideation, reduced sense of belonging, anxiety, anger, and spiritual distress. In addition, moral injury among service members has also been shown to be related to experiences of interpersonal violence occurring pre-deployment. Given that social support has consistently been found to play a key role in moderating the relationship between experiences of interpersonal violence and stress and trauma related symptoms and disorders, this study will be the first to explore the relationship between experiences of interpersonal violence and moral injury, and the moderating role of social support. This study will use stepwise regression analysis to examine secondary data collected from 935 U.S. military personnel primarily from the Army National Guard. / MS / Research has found that bearing witness to or engaging in an act that goes against an individual’s own moral beliefs can lead to many negative mental health outcomes such as depression, suicidal ideation, reduced sense of belonging, anxiety, anger, and spiritual distress. Researchers and clinicians have developed the term moral injury to describe the moral distress and individual may experience after they are exposed to a morally injurious event. Moral injury among service members has also been shown to be related to traumatic experiences involving intentional harm of one individual by another, also known as interpersonal violence. Given that social support has consistently been found to play a key role in decreasing the relationship between experiences of interpersonal violence and stress and trauma related symptoms and disorders, this study will be the first to explore the relationship between experiences of interpersonal violence and moral injury, and the diminishing role of social support.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/87562
Date08 February 2019
CreatorsChavez, Megan Rose
ContributorsAdult Learning and Human Resource Development, Falconier, Mariana, Cunanan-Petty, Elnora Danao, Anestis, Michael D.
PublisherVirginia Tech
Source SetsVirginia Tech Theses and Dissertation
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
FormatETD, application/pdf
RightsIn Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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