Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA.
Mil Med. 2024 Aug 19;189(Suppl 3):142-148. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usae062.
Positive and negative affect influence an individual's ability to utilize available physical, psychological, and social resources to maximize responses to life events. Little research has examined the factors that influence the development of positive affect or reduction of negative affective responses among deployed military personnel. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between deployment-related stressors and symptoms of behavioral health concerns with affectivity among deployed U.S. service members.
Participants were 1148 U.S. Air Force medical personnel deployed to Balad, Iraq, between 2004 and 2011. All participants completed self-report measures of PTSD symptoms, general military and combat exposure, stress, and affectivity. The Institutional Review Board at Wilford Hall Medical Center, the Air Force Personnel Survey Program, and the U.S. Army's Joint Combat Casualty Research Team reviewed and approved the study.
Most respondents (89%, 1,018/1,139) reported a positive military experience, but many respondents reported exposure to a potentially traumatic event during deployment. For example, seeing dead or seriously injured Americans (47%, 523/1,123) was the most common exposure reported by participants. A large portion of personnel (21%, 232/1,089) reported clinical levels of PTSD symptoms (score of 33 or higher on the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Military version). Risk factors, including PTSD symptoms, combat exposure, and stress, explained 39% of the variance in negative affect, R2 = 0.39, F(1046) = 224.96, P < .001. Conversely, these risk and resilience factors, including PTSD symptoms, combat exposure, stress, and general military experiences, explained 28% of the variance in positive affect, R2 = 0.28, F(1050) = 103.79, P < .001. No significant gender differences were found between models predicting positive and negative affect.
Negative mood states may be partly an epiphenomenon of PTSD, which has been shown to be safely and effectively treated in the deployed environment. Social support during deployments is uniquely associated with a positive mood. These findings extend beyond the military and into any high-stress occupation wherein leaders could interpret these findings as a need to build or reinforce efforts to provide opportunities to sustain healthy relationships in personnel. These critical indigenous resources support mission readiness and enable the maintenance of positive psychological health.
积极和消极的情绪会影响个人利用现有身体、心理和社会资源的能力，从而最大限度地对生活事件做出反应。很少有研究探讨影响部署军人积极情绪发展或减少消极情绪反应的因素。本研究旨在调查与部署相关的应激源与行为健康问题症状与部署期间美国军人的情绪之间的关系。
参与者是 2004 年至 2011 年期间部署到伊拉克巴拉德的 1148 名美国空军医务人员。所有参与者都完成了 PTSD 症状、一般军事和战斗暴露、压力和情绪的自我报告测量。威尔福德·霍尔医疗中心的机构审查委员会、空军人员调查计划和美国陆军联合战斗伤亡研究小组审查并批准了这项研究。
大多数受访者（89%，1139 人中有 1018 人）报告了积极的军事经历，但许多受访者报告在部署期间经历了潜在的创伤性事件。例如，看到死去或受重伤的美国人（47%，1123 人中有 523 人）是参与者报告的最常见暴露。很大一部分人员（21%，1089 人中有 232 人）报告了 PTSD 症状的临床水平（创伤后应激障碍检查表-军事版本的分数为 33 或更高）。风险因素，包括 PTSD 症状、战斗暴露和压力，解释了 39%的负性情绪变化，R2=0.39，F（1046）=224.96，P<0.001。相反，这些风险和恢复力因素，包括 PTSD 症状、战斗暴露、压力和一般军事经历，解释了积极情绪变化的 28%，R2=0.28，F（1050）=103.79，P<0.001。在预测正性和负性情绪的模型中没有发现显著的性别差异。
负性情绪状态可能部分是 PTSD 的附带现象，而 PTSD 已被证明可以在部署环境中安全有效地治疗。部署期间的社会支持与积极情绪独特相关。这些发现超出了军队的范围，进入了任何高压力的职业，领导者可以从中解读出需要建立或加强提供机会维持人员健康关系的努力。这些关键的本土资源支持任务准备，并使维持积极的心理健康成为可能。
