Citation

Britt TW, Adler AB. Mil. Med. 1999; 164(4): 275-279.

Affiliation

Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, DC 20307-5100, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Association of Military Surgeons of the United States)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10226454

Abstract

The present research examined stress and health among service members deployed on a medical humanitarian assistance mission to Kazakstan. Team members were surveyed before and during their deployment. Team members underestimated how much stress they would experience in terms of isolation and inability to help the local population. Team members also used less adaptive coping mechanisms than anticipated and showed elevations in alcohol and cigarette consumption. Despite these negative experiences, reports of depression and physical symptoms did not increase during the deployment. This may have been a function of team members being personally involved in important and relevant work during the humanitarian operation.

Language: en