Post-deployment Period Research Articles

Coming Home: Social Functioning and the Mental Health of UK Reservists on Return From Deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan

There is speculation that high rates of mental illness among Reservists returning from deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan may be due to the challenge of reintegrating into civilian life. We aimed to examine the postdeployment social functioning of Reservists and to explore the relationship between adverse postdeployment experiences and subsequent mental ill health. A sample of 4,991 UK military personnel who had deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan were asked about their postdeployment experiences with a particular focus on their levels of social integration, perceived support from the military, and civilian employment. All participants were asked to complete a series of validated measures of mental health. Compared with Regular personnel, Reservists were more likely to feel unsupported by the military and to have difficulties with social functioning in the postdeployment period. Perceived lack of support from the military was associated with increased reporting of probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol misuse. Low levels of non-military postdeployment social support and participation were associated with increased reporting of common mental disorder, probable PTSD, and alcohol misuse. Many Reservists find the transition from military deployment to civilian life difficult. Differences in postdeployment experiences may explain some of the increased rates of mental ill health among Reservists.

A review of United Kingdom Armed Forces’ approaches to prevent post-deployment mental health problems

There is now an abundance of research which has demonstrated that military personnel who deploy on operations are at increased risk of suffering a variety of mental health difficulties in the immediate and long-term post-deployment period. One consequence of these research findings has been the development of a variety of programmes which attempt to mitigate the increased psychological risk and to assist personnel who are returning from a deployment to make a smooth transition home. Using a three-tiered prevention model, this article reviews some of the key post-deployment issues facing the UK Armed Forces and highlights the recent interventions which have been put in place to promote successful adjustment in the early post-deployment period. The paper is based upon research identified through a thorough literature search for studies which focused on this area and included a recognized measure of mental health as an outcome. The paper focuses on three main areas; psychological decompression, psycho-education and screening. The current philosophical approaches to post-deployment mental health problems of some of the UK's coalition partners are also discussed.

The Development and Validation of the Army Post-Deployment Reintegration Scale

For military personnel, the post-deployment period can be associated with changes affecting their quality of life, the quality of their close relationships, and their attitudes concerning their military careers. There is, however, little published research concerning this process, and a major weakness of the previous work is the lack of an established measuring instrument. This article describes the development of the Army Post-deployment Reintegration Scale assessing the attitudes of military personnel in three key areas. Study 1 found support for a multidimensional model of post-deployment reintegration attitudes. Study 2 refined the dimensionality of the model to the positive and negative aspects of personal, family, and work reintegration and reduced the length of the scale to 36 items and provided preliminary evidence of its factorial validity and internal consistency reliabilities. Finally, in Study 3, the subscales were correlated in predicted ways with personal- and organizational-level outcomes (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], organizational commitment).

Postdeployment Domestic Violence by U.S. Army Soldiers

The objective of this study was to determine whether a military deployment of 6 months predicted domestic violence against the wives of deployed and nondeployed soldiers during the postdeployment period. The method involved the completion of an anonymous questionnaire by a sample of the spouses of soldiers deployed from a large U.S. Army post. The Conflict Tactics Scale identified incidents of domestic violence by the soldier husbands, and a logistic regression model predicted domestic violence during the postdeployment period. The results indicate that deployment was not a significant predictor of domestic violence during the first 10 months of the postdeployment period. Younger wives and those who were victims of predeployment domestic violence were more likely to report postdeployment domestic violence. The conclusion was that interventions for domestic violence in the U.S. Army should address risks among younger couples and those with a previous incident of domestic violence.

Carotid stents are not a source of microemboli late after deployment.

To evaluate the presence of microembolic signals (MES) in the middle cerebral artery distal to a stented carotid artery late after stent deployment. MES may be a signal of thrombus formation at the stent level. Two patient groups were studied with transcranial Doppler at different intervals after deployment of Palmaz stents or Wallstents for stenosis of the internal or common carotid artery. Group 1: from 6 to 12 months after stent deployment; Group 2: > 12 months after stenting. One out of 19 patients in Group 1 showed MES (5.0%); however, this patient also had two mechanical heart valves. None out of 17 patients in Group 2 had MES. Carotid stents seem to have a very low emboligenic potential after the early post-deployment period. This is a reassuring message for present and future patients harboring such stents.