Measuring psychological stress in primary care military medical clinics

In this study, the amount of psychological distress reported by soldiers is investigated and measured over time. The soldiers--enlisted and career--were randomly chosen while visiting five different military primary care clinics (for ostensible somatic problems) and administered the General Health Questionnaire (Goldberg and Huxley, 1980). A third of the subjects were given the GHQ a year later. Fifty-two percent showed psychological stress: combat soldiers showed considerably less distress than technical/maintenance and administrative soldiers, and the psychological stress findings remained relatively stable over time. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.