Operational stressors, psychological distress, and turnover intentions: The impact of potentially morally injurious experiences.

Military personnel experience stressors during deployment that could take a toll on their psychological well-being and on the organization's function. One common approach to better understanding the impact of such stressors is measuring events using psychological scales. The current research examined items measuring potentially morally injurious experiences in post-deployment assessments of personnel involved in the Afghanistan mission using the United States Mental Health Advisory Team - Combat Experiences Scale (MHAT-CES). Study 1 found that the scale produced five components. Three components showed consistency with past studies that examined the structure of other versions of the CES (i.e., and ). A fourth component that we labeled included items that were typically divided between the aforementioned components. Finally, a stable and reliable fifth component included items related to . Study 2 replicated this structure and showed that increased perceptions of potentially morally injurious experiences during deployment were associated with higher levels of psychological distress, which in turn promoted stronger turnover intentions, even after controlling for the effects of the other combat stressor components on these variables. We discuss the implications of potentially morally injurious experiences in relation to individual psychological distress and organizational retention.