Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Department of Defence, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
BMJ Mil Health. 2024 Sep 20;170(5):390-395. doi: 10.1136/military-2024-002724.
Combat exposure has been associated with the emergence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in military personnel; however, not all veterans are negatively impacted by their operational experience. In many instances, the absence of symptoms following operational service is attributed to resilience. This study explored the construct of resilience by examining the relationship between levels of deployment-related exposures and psychological symptoms, as well as identifying factors that may contribute to resilience and emerging risk.
Participants were special forces personnel who completed self-report questionnaires 1 month before deployment and 4 months post deployment. Subgroups were created based on psychological reactivity to deployment exposures, representing risk, vulnerability and resilience. Regression analysis assessed the contribution of factors that were predictive of risk or resilience groups specifically.
Results showed the overall levels of psychological reactivity in this population post deployment were low; however, differences between risk and resilience subgroups were found. Subthreshold indicators of psychological reactivity, as well as deployment factors such as increased deployment frequency and time spent away from home, were found to contribute to differences between risk and resilient trajectories.
Findings reflect a military population with low psychological symptoms despite high trauma exposure. However, subtle underlying differences between subgroups suggest that the early identification of risk and emerging trajectories is possible. Risk and resilience in military populations needs to consider subthreshold indicators and individual differences over time.
战斗暴露与军事人员出现创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）症状有关；然而，并非所有退伍军人的作战经历都产生负面影响。在许多情况下，由于具备韧性，作战后没有出现症状。本研究通过考察与部署相关的暴露水平与心理症状之间的关系，以及确定可能有助于韧性和新出现风险的因素，来探讨韧性的结构。
参与者为特种部队人员，他们在部署前 1 个月和部署后 4 个月完成了自我报告问卷。根据对部署暴露的心理反应，创建了风险、脆弱性和韧性亚组。回归分析评估了专门预测风险或韧性亚组的因素的贡献。
结果表明，该人群在部署后整体的心理反应水平较低；然而，在风险和韧性亚组之间发现了差异。亚临床心理反应指标以及部署因素，如增加部署频率和离家时间，被发现与风险和韧性轨迹之间的差异有关。
研究结果反映了一个尽管创伤暴露高但心理症状低的军人群体。然而，亚组之间的细微差异表明，风险和新出现轨迹的早期识别是可能的。军事人群中的风险和韧性需要考虑亚临床指标和随时间的个体差异。
