SAN DIEGO – Reserve soldiers who have never been deployed are just as likely to have poor outcomes related to mental health and substance use as their peers who have been deployed, results from a novel survey suggest.
“We tend to focus on screening and intervention efforts for soldiers who have been deployed and who have experienced combat, but we should also focus our intervention and screening efforts on soldiers who have never been deployed,” lead study author Rachel A. Hoopsick, MPH, said in an interview at the annual meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence. “Both are at risk for substance use and mental illness.”
Doug Brunk/MDedge News
Rachel A. Hoopsick
Measures included the Non-Deployment Emotions Questionnaire, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, the National Institute on Drug Abuse Modified Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test 2.0, and the Marital Adjustment Test. The researchers used separate models to examine the relationship between nondeployment emotions and alcohol problems, frequent heavy drinking, current nonmedical use of prescription drugs, and current illicit drug use, and controlled for years of military service, number of military friends in the social network, and marital satisfaction.
Ms. Hoopsick reported results from 121 never-deployed, male soldiers who completed the survey at baseline and at a 1-year follow-up. Their mean age was 30 years, 76% were non-Hispanic white, and 84% had at least some college education. In addition, the soldiers had served a mean of 5.5 years, had a mean of 0.6 military friends in the social network, and had a mean marital satisfaction score of 114 out of 158 possible points.
On responses to the Non-Deployment Emotions Questionnaire, 65% of nondeployed soldiers felt guilt, 56% felt decreased value within his unit, 50% felt decreased camaraderie within his unit, and 50% felt decreased connectedness within his unit for having never been deployed. “We did anticipate that some of these soldiers were going to have poor outcomes related to their nondeployment emotions, but it was surprising to see how many of the soldiers did express having negative emotions related to having never been deployed,” Ms. Hoopsick said. After the researchers controlled for years of military service, the number of military friends in the soldier’s social network, and marital satisfaction, more negative nondeployment emotions were associated with a greater likelihood of alcohol problems (adjusted risk ratio, 1.06), frequent heavy drinking (ARR, 1.03), and current nonmedical use of prescription drugs (ARR, 1.21).
She acknowledged certain limitations of the study, including its cross-sectional nature. she said.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse provided funding to Ms. Hoopsick’s mentor and coauthor, Gregory G. Homish, PhD, and the study received additional funding from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and the Health Resources and Services Administration.