Depression, anxiety, and stress in partners of Australian combat veterans and military personnel: a comparison with Australian population norms
Partners of Australian combat veterans are at an increased risk of experiencing mental health problems. The present study provides a comparative analysis of the mental health of partners of veterans with that of the Australian normative data. To compare different types of groups of partners, the stu...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2016-08-01
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/2373.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797417959217430528 |
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| author | Gail V. MacDonell Navjot Bhullar Einar B. Thorsteinsson |
| author_facet | Gail V. MacDonell Navjot Bhullar Einar B. Thorsteinsson |
| author_sort | Gail V. MacDonell |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Partners of Australian combat veterans are at an increased risk of experiencing mental health problems. The present study provides a comparative analysis of the mental health of partners of veterans with that of the Australian normative data. To compare different types of groups of partners, the study samples comprised: (a) partners of Australian combat veterans (Sample 1: n = 282, age M = 60.79, SD = 5.05), (b) a sub-sample of partners of Australian combat veterans from the previous sample (Sample 2: n = 50; M = 60.06, SD = 4.80), (c) partners of Special Air Services Regiment (SASR) personnel (Sample 3: n = 40, age M = 34.39SD = 7.01), and (d) partners of current serving military (non-SASR) personnel (Sample 4: n = 38, age M = 32.37, SD = 6.20). Respondents completed measures assessing their reported levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Samples 1 and 2 comprised partners of Australian military veterans who reported significantly greater symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress than the comparative population norms. The sample of SASR personnel partners (Sample 3) reported significantly lower levels of depression and anxiety, whereas the sample with non-SASR personnel partners (Sample 4) reported a significantly greater stress symptomatology than the comparative norms. Number of deployments was found to be associated with depression, anxiety, and stress in partners of non-SASR veterans (Sample 4). Lessons and protective factors can be learnt from groups within the current military as to what may assist partners and families to maintain a better level of psychosocial health. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:26:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a06b0a69cfd64ed0b598302eff7ff685 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:26:06Z |
| publishDate | 2016-08-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
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| spelling | doaj.art-a06b0a69cfd64ed0b598302eff7ff6852023-12-03T11:19:51ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592016-08-014e237310.7717/peerj.2373Depression, anxiety, and stress in partners of Australian combat veterans and military personnel: a comparison with Australian population normsGail V. MacDonell0Navjot Bhullar1Einar B. Thorsteinsson2Psychology-School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, AustraliaPsychology-School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, AustraliaPsychology-School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, AustraliaPartners of Australian combat veterans are at an increased risk of experiencing mental health problems. The present study provides a comparative analysis of the mental health of partners of veterans with that of the Australian normative data. To compare different types of groups of partners, the study samples comprised: (a) partners of Australian combat veterans (Sample 1: n = 282, age M = 60.79, SD = 5.05), (b) a sub-sample of partners of Australian combat veterans from the previous sample (Sample 2: n = 50; M = 60.06, SD = 4.80), (c) partners of Special Air Services Regiment (SASR) personnel (Sample 3: n = 40, age M = 34.39SD = 7.01), and (d) partners of current serving military (non-SASR) personnel (Sample 4: n = 38, age M = 32.37, SD = 6.20). Respondents completed measures assessing their reported levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Samples 1 and 2 comprised partners of Australian military veterans who reported significantly greater symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress than the comparative population norms. The sample of SASR personnel partners (Sample 3) reported significantly lower levels of depression and anxiety, whereas the sample with non-SASR personnel partners (Sample 4) reported a significantly greater stress symptomatology than the comparative norms. Number of deployments was found to be associated with depression, anxiety, and stress in partners of non-SASR veterans (Sample 4). Lessons and protective factors can be learnt from groups within the current military as to what may assist partners and families to maintain a better level of psychosocial health.https://peerj.com/articles/2373.pdfDyadic adjustmentCombat veteransCaregiving distressMental healthPartners of veteransPTSD |
| spellingShingle | Gail V. MacDonell Navjot Bhullar Einar B. Thorsteinsson Depression, anxiety, and stress in partners of Australian combat veterans and military personnel: a comparison with Australian population norms PeerJ Dyadic adjustment Combat veterans Caregiving distress Mental health Partners of veterans PTSD |
| title | Depression, anxiety, and stress in partners of Australian combat veterans and military personnel: a comparison with Australian population norms |
| title_full | Depression, anxiety, and stress in partners of Australian combat veterans and military personnel: a comparison with Australian population norms |
| title_fullStr | Depression, anxiety, and stress in partners of Australian combat veterans and military personnel: a comparison with Australian population norms |
| title_full_unstemmed | Depression, anxiety, and stress in partners of Australian combat veterans and military personnel: a comparison with Australian population norms |
| title_short | Depression, anxiety, and stress in partners of Australian combat veterans and military personnel: a comparison with Australian population norms |
| title_sort | depression anxiety and stress in partners of australian combat veterans and military personnel a comparison with australian population norms |
| topic | Dyadic adjustment Combat veterans Caregiving distress Mental health Partners of veterans PTSD |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/2373.pdf |
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