Deployment stressors and outcomes among Air Force chaplains

Abstract

Military chaplains are invaluable caregiver resources for service members. Little is known about how chaplains respond to the challenge of providing spiritual counsel in a warzone. In this exploratory study, 183 previously deployed Air Force chaplains completed an online survey assessing operational and counseling stress exposure, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, compassion fatigue, and posttraumatic growth. Despite reporting exposure to stressful counseling experiences, Air Force chaplains did not endorse high compassion fatigue. Rather, chaplains experienced positive psychological growth following exposure to stressful counseling experiences. However, 7.7% of Air Force chaplains reported clinically significant PTSD symptoms, suggesting that they are not immune to deployment-related mental health problems. Simultaneous regression analyses revealed that counseling stress exposure predicted compassion fatigue (β = .20) and posttraumatic growth (β = .24), suggesting that caretaking in theatre is stressful enough to spur positive psychological growth in chaplains. Consistent with findings from previous studies, hierarchical regression analyses revealed that operational stress exposure predicted PTSD symptom severity (β = .33) while controlling for demographic variables.