Center for Military Psychiatry & Neuroscience, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA.
New York Army National Guard, Connecticut Street Armory-C, Buffalo, NY 14213, USA.
Mil Med. 2024 Feb 27;189(3-4):e705-e713. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usad395.
A small body of research conducted mostly among civilians has shown that adequate training and preparation can prevent or reduce the development of behavioral health problems in first responders. Several civilian studies have shown that social support is protective against behavioral health problems. However, very few studies have examined the impact of these factors on the behavioral health of military first responders. Military first responders, who serve in the aftermath of natural disasters and disease outbreaks such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, are often members of the National Guard (NG). The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of mortuary affairs training/handling human remains, role preparation, equipment preparation, and unit social support provided to families on the behavioral health of New York (NY) NG personnel deployed to assist the NY Office of Chief Medical Examiner with handling the remains of COVID-19 decedents.
We invited 410 NYNG personnel who deployed for the Office of Chief Medical Examiner mission to complete an anonymous online questionnaire 3 to 6 months post-mission. Of the 158 participants, we used the data of the 141 participants who provided consent. Standard behavioral health measures (depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol misuse, and insomnia) as well as study-specific items designed to understand the unique dynamics of this deployment were included. Hierarchical logistic regression analysis was used to examine the relationships between mortuary training, role preparation, equipment preparation, and unit support with behavioral health.
Close to two-thirds of the sample reported that they had not been trained in mortuary affairs/handling human remains before the mission. We also found that that lower levels of role preparation and unit support provided to the service members' families increased the odds of meeting criteria for one or more behavioral health problems, but that training in mortuary affairs and equipment preparation was unrelated to behavioral health.
Our research points to the importance of emotionally and cognitively preparing service members for the specific dynamics of a deployment and the roles that that they are expected to play. Furthermore, it suggests that supporting the families of NG personnel during domestic missions can benefit the behavioral health of the NG personnel. Additional research is needed to corroborate these findings, particularly the impact of unit support provided to family members on service members' behavioral health.
虽然已有少量研究表明，充足的培训和准备可以预防或减少急救人员的心理健康问题，但这些研究主要针对的是平民。有几项针对平民的研究表明，社会支持可以预防心理健康问题。然而，很少有研究调查这些因素对军人急救人员心理健康的影响。军人急救人员通常是国民警卫队（National Guard，简称 NG）的成员，他们在自然灾害和疾病爆发（如 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行）后提供服务，负责处理善后工作，例如处理遗体。本研究旨在调查丧葬事务培训/处理遗体、角色准备、设备准备以及为军人家庭提供的单位支持对纽约州（NY）国民警卫队人员的行为健康的影响，这些军人被部署到纽约首席法医办公室协助处理 COVID-19 死者遗体。
我们邀请了 410 名参与首席法医办公室任务的纽约州国民警卫队人员在任务结束后 3 至 6 个月完成匿名在线问卷。在 158 名参与者中，我们使用了 141 名同意参与者的数据。标准心理健康措施（抑郁、焦虑、创伤后应激障碍、酒精使用障碍和失眠）以及专为了解此次部署的独特动态而设计的研究特定项目均包含在内。采用分层逻辑回归分析来检验丧葬培训、角色准备、设备准备和单位支持与行为健康之间的关系。
近三分之二的样本报告称，他们在任务前没有接受过丧葬事务/处理遗体的培训。我们还发现，角色准备和向军人家庭提供的单位支持水平较低会增加出现一种或多种心理健康问题的可能性，但丧葬事务培训和设备准备与心理健康无关。
我们的研究表明，为军人准备部署的具体动态和预期角色，从情感和认知方面做好准备非常重要。此外，它表明在国内任务期间支持国民警卫队人员的家属可以改善国民警卫队人员的心理健康。需要进一步的研究来证实这些发现，特别是单位向军人家庭成员提供的支持对军人行为健康的影响。
