Carr Dawn C, Taylor Miles G, Meyer Alex, Sachs-Ericsson Natalie J
Department of Sociology, Pepper Institute on Aging and Social Policy.
Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee.
Innov Aging. 2019 Apr 5;3(1):igz007. doi: 10.1093/geroni/igz007. eCollection 2019 Jan.
The veteran population is aging. Combat exposure is associated with negative health and psychological outcomes in some, but not all veterans; others even appear to experience gains. One mechanism driving these varied responses might be early life relationships. This study investigated the extent to which the quality of early maternal relationships influences the association between combat exposures and life satisfaction (LS) among older male veterans.
Data were drawn from a pooled sample of male veterans in the Health and Retirement Study who completed the 2013 Veteran Mail Survey ( = 1,160). We used ordinary least squares regression to examine the association between combat exposures (with and without exposure to death) and LS, and the moderating effect of maternal relationship quality on this association.
We found a significant positive association between maternal relationship quality and LS, and a significant association of combat that was dependent on maternal relationship quality. Specifically, combat-exposed veterans with poor maternal relationship quality reported lower LS, whereas combat-exposed veterans with high relationship quality reported higher LS-relative to their noncombat-exposed counterparts. The effects of exposure to death of hazardous toxins did not mediate or moderate this relationship.
Findings indicate that maternal relationships had a lasting influence on whether combat contributed to a positive, negative, or neutral long-term effect on wellbeing. Findings support previous studies that suggest early life factors may play an important role in the fostering of resilient health outcomes over the life course. Implications for preventative strategies in soldiers are discussed.
退伍军人人口正在老龄化。在部分但并非所有退伍军人中，经历战斗与负面健康和心理结果相关；另一些人甚至似乎有积极收获。导致这些不同反应的一种机制可能是早年的人际关系。本研究调查了早年母婴关系质量在多大程度上影响老年男性退伍军人战斗经历与生活满意度（LS）之间的关联。
数据取自健康与退休研究中完成2013年退伍军人邮件调查的男性退伍军人汇总样本（n = 1160）。我们使用普通最小二乘法回归来检验战斗经历（有或无死亡经历）与生活满意度之间的关联，以及母婴关系质量对这种关联的调节作用。
我们发现母婴关系质量与生活满意度之间存在显著正相关，且战斗经历与母婴关系质量存在显著关联。具体而言，母婴关系质量差的战斗退伍军人报告的生活满意度较低，而母婴关系质量高的战斗退伍军人相对于未经历战斗的同龄人报告的生活满意度较高。接触危险毒素导致的死亡影响并未调节这种关系。
研究结果表明，母婴关系对战斗经历对幸福感产生积极、消极还是中性的长期影响具有持久作用。研究结果支持了先前的研究，即早年因素可能在整个生命过程中促进健康恢复力方面发挥重要作用。文中讨论了对士兵预防策略的启示。
