Military Veterans' Psychological Health and Physical Activity After Separation From Service

The transition from military to civilian life can bring about substantive challenges for U.S. veterans. The purpose of this study was to examine veterans' trajectories of psychological health prior to and after separation, and to examine whether veterans who engaged in more physical activity would report better psychological health over time.

Longitudinal data between 2001 and 2016 from the Millennium Cohort Study were analyzed, which consisted of U.S. military personnel who separated from service, followed up every 3-5 years. Veterans (N=37,464, M_age=36.3 years, SD=10.9 at baseline) who had self-report data collected prior to and on at least 2 time points after separation were analyzed. Psychological health was operationalized via measures of self-reported mental health-related quality of life, depressive symptoms, and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Physical activity was measured using self-reported minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Parallel process latent growth modeling was used to examine the relationship between physical activity and psychological health.

Results revealed decreases in psychological health after separation. Veterans with higher pre-separation physical activity were more likely to display steeper trajectories of decreased physical activity and psychological health after separation. In contrast, veterans who engaged in higher levels of physical activity after separation displayed increases in psychological health after separation.

Findings suggest that high levels of physical activity during service may not protect against worsened psychological health trajectories after separation. However, the results provide support for the potential protective factor of physical activity after separation on psychological health symptoms after separation.