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Updated: Dec 21, 2025

Exploring the Use of Isolated Expressions and Film Clips to Evaluate Emotion Recognition by People with Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: May 15, 2016
A qualitative analysis of meaning-making and mental health among OIF/OEF veterans
Emily M Keller1, Gina P Owens1, Marjorie Perkins1
1Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee.
Objective:
After combat, veterans may experience mental health symptomology and attempt to make meaning from their experiences. The present study qualitatively examined the mental health effects of deployment and meaning-making among Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) or Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) veterans.
Method:
OIF/OEF veterans who were exposed to combat (N = 14) participated in semi-structured interviews to assess how their perspectives had changed post-deployment. Most participants (86%) were male, with a mean age of 30.
Results:
Veterans described issues post-combat that caused psychological distress or promoted distancing from others. Veterans also discussed factors that could promote or hinder meaning-making, including perceptions of growth, changed global beliefs, and disillusionment. Finally, veterans described psychological reactions to death, which could be related to moral injury.
Conclusion:
Mental health concerns, meaning-making, and consideration of mortality appear to characterize veterans' experiences post-deployment. These constructs may be important for clinicians to consider when working with OIF/OEF veterans.
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