Citation

Booth-Kewley S, Highfill-McRoy RM, Larson GE, Garland CF, Gaskin TA. J. Nerv. Ment. Dis. 2012; 200(9): 749-757.

Affiliation

*Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA; †Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and Moores UCSD Cancer Center, University of California, San Diego; and ‡Headquarters, US Marine Corps, Combat Operational Stress Control, Quantico, VA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/NMD.0b013e318266b7e7

PMID

22922233

Abstract

Although the effects of combat deployment on posttraumatic stress disorder have been extensively studied, little is known about the effects of combat deployment on depression and anxiety. This study examined the factors associated with anxiety and depression in a sample of 1560 US Marines who were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Eleven demographic and psychosocial factors were studied in relation to depression and anxiety. Five factors emerged as significant in relation to depression: deployment-related stressors, combat exposure, attitudes toward leadership, mild traumatic brain injury symptoms, and marital status. The same factors, with the exception of marital status, emerged as significant in relation to anxiety. Deployment-related stressors had a stronger association with both depression and anxiety than any other variable, including combat exposure. This finding is important because deployment-related stressors are potentially modifiable by the military.

Language: en