Maguen Shira, Litz Brett T, Wang Julie L, Cook Marie
VA Boston Health Care System, 150 South Huntington Avenue, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130, USA.
Mil Med. 2004 Mar;169(3):198-206. doi: 10.7205/milmed.169.3.198.
U.S. soldiers' appraisal and experience of the Kosovo peacekeeping mission is described. Using a prospective design, we evaluated the prevalence, severity, and predictors of several mental health outcomes at redeployment. We found that peacekeepers frequently were exposed to potentially traumatizing and other stressful events while in Kosovo, but on average, their appraisal of those events was moderate. Postdeployment psychopathology was also low--soldiers endorsed more severe mental health difficulties at predeployment, which suggests anticipatory negative affect. After controlling for the impact of predeployment stressors, we examined the contribution of potentially traumatizing events, general overseas military duty stressors, negative aspects of peacekeeping roles, and generic positive military experiences, including morale, to explain variance in four outcomes: post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, hostility and aggression problems, and problems with alcohol abuse. Findings indicate that hostility and drinking may be more chronic problems that emerge during stressful times, whereas depression and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms may be more apt to fluctuate and are associated with potentially traumatizing experiences during peacekeeping. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed.
本文描述了美国士兵对科索沃维和任务的评估及体验。采用前瞻性设计，我们评估了重新部署时几种心理健康结果的发生率、严重程度及预测因素。我们发现，维和人员在科索沃期间经常接触到可能造成创伤的及其他压力事件，但总体而言，他们对这些事件的评估为中等程度。部署后精神病理学症状也较少——士兵在部署前认可存在更严重的心理健康问题，这表明存在预期性负面影响。在控制部署前应激源的影响后，我们考察了可能造成创伤的事件、一般海外军事任务应激源、维和任务角色的负面方面以及包括士气在内的一般积极军事经历对四种结果（创伤后应激障碍、抑郁、敌意和攻击问题以及酒精滥用问题）变异的解释作用。研究结果表明，敌意和饮酒可能是在压力时期出现的更长期的问题，而抑郁和创伤后应激障碍症状可能更易于波动，且与维和期间可能造成创伤的经历有关。本文讨论了该研究的意义和局限性。
