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Benefit finding at war: a matter of time
Michael D Wood1, Thomas W Britt, Kathleen M Wright
1United States Army Medical Research Unit-Europe, Heidelberg, Germany. michael.wood@amedd.army.mil
Journal of Traumatic Stress
|June 26, 2012
Summary
Benefit finding can buffer against stress early in combat deployments. However, this coping mechanism
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Military Mental Health
- Trauma Studies
Background:
- Benefit finding, the ability to identify positive outcomes from stressful events, is theorized to mitigate stress impacts.
- Its effectiveness in prolonged, high-stress environments like combat is debated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how benefit finding influences the relationship between combat exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.
- To examine the moderating role of deployment length on this relationship.
Main Methods:
- A survey was administered to 1,917 U.S. enlisted soldiers and 163 officers/warrant officers deployed in Iraq.
- Statistical analysis examined the interaction between combat exposure, benefit finding, and PTSD symptoms across deployment phases.
Main Results:
- A significant three-way interaction was found (sr(2) = .004, p < .05).
- Benefit finding buffered against increased PTSD symptoms during high combat exposure early in deployment.
- This buffering effect was not observed in the later months of deployment.
Conclusions:
- Benefit finding may serve as an effective coping strategy in the initial stages of combat deployment.
- Prolonged combat exposure may reduce the efficacy of benefit finding as a coping mechanism.
- This suggests a time-dependent utility for benefit finding in military mental health interventions.
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