Abstract

Introduction

Exposure to military combat is associated with mental health problems, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. To understand the effects of combat on adverse health outcomes, the sound measurement of combat experiences is required; however, many scales used in past research are lengthy. A brief measure of combat exposure benefits militaries by reducing the burden on respondents as well as administration time in post-deployment settings and large population-based health surveys.

Data and methods

The current study sought to describe the psychometric properties of a brief measure of combat exposure among Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel. Data from post-deployment screening were used to compare the psychometric properties of an 8-item scale with the full scale that it was derived from.

Results

The 8-item measure did not fit a one-factor solution well and did not offer a statistically significant improvement in model fit over the full 30-item measure. However, its association with increased odds of a number of health outcomes indicates that it could be useful as a brief measure of combat exposure in settings where using the full scale is not feasible.

Interpretation

Brief measures of combat exposure are valuable for assessing events experienced during deployment among military personnel. Although the 8-item Combat Exposure Scale assessed in the current study represents a potentially useful measure for CAF personnel, further research is necessary to improve its fit.

Keywords

deployment, combat, military, PTSD, stress disorders, Canada, Afghanistan, post-deployment screening

DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.25318/82-003-x201901100002-eng

Findings

Research has consistently shown that exposure to military combat is associated with a host of mental health problems, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and alcohol misuse, with PTSD showing the strongest association. In addition, combat exposure has been linked to substance abuse, suicidal ideation, injury and traumatic brain injury. To understand how combat affects adverse health outcomes, sound measurement of combat experiences is required. Generic trauma measures have items that map conceptually to military experiences (e.g., exposure to combat or peacekeeping), but there are several limitations to using these measures: a lack of clarity as to what precise experiences underlie a respondents’ endorsement of an item, an inability to capture the broad range of intensity of combat experiences, and an inability to tie other trauma items from the inventory to military service. [Full article]

Authors

Kerry A. Sudom (kerry.sudom@forces.gc.ca) and Robert Nesdole are with the Director General Military Personnel Research and Analysis, Defence Research and Development Canada. Mark A. Zamorski (deceased August 17, 2018) was with the Directorate of Mental Health, Canadian Forces Health Services Group, and the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario.

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