Hardiness, avoidance coping, and alcohol consumption in war veterans: A moderated-mediation study

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Military Health
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Military personnel frequently exhibit excessive alcohol consumption post-deployment.
• Limited research exists on personality factors influencing alcohol use in this demographic.
• Understanding these factors is crucial for developing targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the interplay of psychological hardiness, avoidance coping, and stress exposure on alcohol consumption in soldiers after deployment.
• To examine the mediating role of avoidance coping and the moderating role of combat stress.

Main Methods:

• Survey data collected from U.S. Army National Guard soldiers (N=357) post-deployment.
• Replication sample from Norwegian Army soldiers (N=230) post-deployment.
• Conditional process analysis employed to test mediation and moderation effects.

Main Results:

• Psychological hardiness negatively predicted increased alcohol use.
• Avoidance coping mediated the relationship between hardiness and alcohol consumption.
• Combat stress exposure moderated this mediation (moderated-mediation) in the U.S. sample.
• Avoidance coping also mediated hardiness effects in the Norwegian sample.

Conclusions:

• Psychological hardiness and avoidance coping are significant factors in military personnel's post-deployment alcohol consumption.
• Avoidance coping acts as a mediator, and combat stress can amplify this effect.
• Interventions targeting hardiness and avoidance coping may reduce risky drinking in military populations.