Publication Date

8-1-2015

Document Type

Article

Organizational Units

Graduate School of Professional Psychology

Keywords

Qualitative, Military, Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF), Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

Abstract

Purpose/Objective: The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore exposure to deployment-related physical and/or emotional trauma and associated symptoms among Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) soldiers. Interviews also focused on in-theater- and reintegration-related experiences. Research Method/Design: OEF/OIF soldiers (N = 103) participated in semistructured interviews, and a qualitative descriptive methodology was used to analyze the data. Results: Themes were identified regarding (a) common experiences related to emotional and physical traumas and associated symptoms and strategies for coping and making meaning of experiences and (b) how combat and reintegration experiences affected soldiers’ senses of self, relationships with others, and functioning. Conclusions/Implications: Themes identified support a rethinking of deployment-related mild traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder as discrete conditions. Dimensional versus categorical models should be considered. The findings also highlight experiences and potentially meaningful constructs (e.g., moral injury, moral repair) that can be used to inform research and clinical efforts aimed at improving the lives of those who have served

Copyright Date

7-6-2015

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0
This work is free of known copyright restrictions.

Provenance

Received from CHORUS

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

9 pgs

File Size

101 KB

Publication Statement

This article was contributed to by a U.S. government employee in the course of their employment and is in the Public Domain. This article was originally published as:

Brenner, L. A., Betthauser, L. M., Bahraini, N., Lusk, J. L., Terrio, H., Scher, A. I., & Schwab, K. A. (2015). Soldiers returning from deployment: A qualitative study regarding exposure, coping, and reintegration. Rehabilitation Psychology, 60(3), 277–285. https://doi.org/10.1037/rep0000048

Publication Title

Rehabilitation Psychology

Volume

60

Issue

3

First Page

277

Last Page

285

ISSN

1939-1544

PubMed ID

26147237

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