Biological, psychological, social, and spiritual health of active duty women: An exploratory study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghan Lacks ◽  
Angela Lamson ◽  
Jessica Goodman
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Psychological Trauma ◽  
Active Duty ◽  
Spiritual Health ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Physical Health Outcomes ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Military

LAY SUMMARY This study explored the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual health of active duty women, including how each of these dimensions of health is related to one another. In particular, this study addresses active duty women’s health and experiences associated with trauma, sexual harassment, deployment, and physical health outcomes. A total of 76 active duty women completed a survey consisting of questions about demographics, physical health, psychological health, physical and psychological trauma history, social support, history of sexual harassment, and spirituality. Results showed that women with larger waist circumference had more physical pain and previous experiences with sexual harassment. Also, women who experienced more traumatic events in their lifetime were more involved in organized and non-organized religion or spiritual activities. Being in the military influences every service member’s health; however, more attention is needed to understanding the ways in which biopsychosocial-spiritual assessments and treatment can be created and adopted by medical, mental health, social service, and spiritual health providers.

scholarly journals Examining Microstructural White Matter in Active Duty Soldiers with a History of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Traumatic Stress

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael N. Dretsch ◽  
Rael T. Lange ◽  
Jeffery S. Katz ◽  
Adam Goodman ◽  
Thomas A. Daniel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Diffusion Tensor ◽  
Active Duty ◽  
Control Group ◽  
History Of

Background:There is a high comorbidity of posttraumatic stress (PTS) and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), with largely overlapping symptomatology, in military service members.Objective:To examine white matter integrity associated with PTS and mTBI as assessed using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).Method:Seventy-four active-duty U.S. soldiers with PTS (n = 16) and PTS with co-morbid history of mTBI (PTS/mTBI; n = 28) were compared to a military control group (n = 30). Participants received a battery of neurocognitive and clinical symptom measures. The number of abnormal DTI values was determined (>2 SDs from the mean of the control group) for fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD), and then compared between groups. In addition, mean DTI values from white matter tracts falling into three categories were compared between groups: (i) projection tracts: superior, middle, and inferior cerebellar peduncles, pontine crossing tract, and corticospinal tract; (ii) association tracts: superior longitudinal fasciculus; and (iii) commissure tracts: cingulum bundle (cingulum-cingulate gyrus and cingulum-hippocampus), and corpus callosum.Results:The comorbid PTS/mTBI group had significantly greater traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and post-concussive symptoms, and they performed worse on neurocognitive testing than those with PTS alone and controls. The groups differed greatly on several clinical variables, but contrary to what we hypothesized, they did not differ greatly on primary and exploratory analytic approaches of hetero-spatial whole brain DTI analyses.Conclusion:The findings suggest that psychological health conditions rather than pathoanatomical changes may be contributing to symptom presentation in this population.

Perceived Workplace Gender Discrimination and Employee Consequences: A Meta-Analysis and Complementary Studies Considering Country Context

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 2419-2447 ◽  
Author(s):  
María del Carmen Triana ◽  
Mevan Jayasinghe ◽  
Jenna R. Pieper ◽  
Dora María Delgado ◽  
Mingxiang Li
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Relative Deprivation ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Employee Outcomes ◽  
Physical Health Outcomes ◽  
And Behaviors ◽  
The Relationship

We draw on relative deprivation theory to examine how the context influences the relationship between employees’ perceptions of gender discrimination and outcomes at work using a meta-analysis and two complementary empirical studies. Our meta-analysis includes 85 correlations from published and unpublished studies from around the world to assess correlates of perceived workplace gender discrimination that have significant implications for employees. We extend relative deprivation theory to identify national differences in labor laws and cultural norms as contextual factors that affect the threshold for feeling deprived and moderate the relationship between perceived workplace gender discrimination and employee outcomes. Findings show that perceived gender discrimination is negatively related to job attitudes, physical health outcomes and behaviors, psychological health, and work-related outcomes (job-based and relationship-based). Correlations between perceived workplace gender discrimination and physical health outcomes and behaviors were stronger in countries with more broadly integrated labor policies and stringently enforced labor practices focused on promoting gender equality. Correlations were also stronger in countries with more gender-egalitarian cultural practices across multiple employee outcomes of perceived workplace gender discrimination. Further, results from two complementary studies (one employee survey and one experiment) supported the meta-analytic findings and provided evidence of the relative deprivation rationale central to our theory. Implications for research and practice include the need to consider the influence of the country context in organizational decisions to prevent and address gender discrimination and its consequences for employees and ultimately, for employers.

Reactions to a Survey among Those Who were and were Not Sexually Assaulted while Serving in the Military

2012 ◽  
Vol 110 (2) ◽  
pp. 461-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia A. Sandberg ◽  
Maureen Murdoch ◽  
Melissa A. Polusny ◽  
Joe Grill
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Active Duty ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Sexual Assaults ◽  
Present Sample ◽  
Sexual Assault Survivors ◽  
Female Survivors ◽  
Military Sexual Assault ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Military

Surveys are among the most common methods for evaluating military sexual assault experiences among members of the U.S. military; however, little research has examined how receiving surveys about such sexual assaults might affect recipients. In the present sample of 530 active duty and veteran military personnel, just 10% reported unexpected upset, 11% reported regretting participation in the survey, and 22% reported benefitting from that participation overall. A minority of respondents with a history of sexual assault while in the military reported unexpected upset, although the prevalence was three times higher than that of participants without such history (24% vs 8%). There were no statistically significant differences in perceived regret and benefit of participation in the survey between those with and without a history of sexual assault while in the military. Although limited in number, male military sexual assault survivors ( n = 8) were significantly more likely than female survivors to report being more upset by the survey than they had anticipated. Implications for future research are discussed.

scholarly journals Emotion Regulation and Psychological and Physical Health during a Nationwide COVID-19 Lockdown

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel S. T. Low ◽  
Nickola Overall ◽  
Valerie Chang ◽  
Annette M E Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Emotion Regulation Strategies ◽  
Emotional Suppression ◽  
Physical Health Outcomes ◽  
Emotion Control ◽  
Regulation Strategies

The COVID-19 pandemic poses considerable challenges that threaten health and well-being. Initial data supports that many people experienced elevated psychological distress as the pandemic emerged. Yet, prior examinations of average changes in well-being fail to identify who is at greater risk for poor psychological health. The aim of the current research was to examine whether the use of different emotion regulation strategies (emotional suppression, rumination, cognitive reappraisal) predicted residual changes in psychological and physical health during a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown. We leveraged an ongoing study in which participants had reported on their psychological and physical health prior to the pandemic. Participants then reported on the same health outcomes as well as their use of emotion regulation strategies, stress and emotion control difficulties during a nationwide lockdown involving confinement in the home for 5 weeks. Accounting for pre-pandemic psychological health, greater emotional suppression and rumination predicted greater depressive symptoms, lower emotional well-being, greater limitations due to emotional problems, and poorer social functioning during the lockdown, even when controlling for the detrimental effects of stress and emotion control difficulties. Accounting for pre-pandemic physical health, greater rumination predicted greater fatigue and poorer physical health, but the amount of stress people experienced was a stronger predictor across physical health outcomes. The results validate concerns that the stress of the pandemic risks declines in psychological and physical health and identify emotional suppression and rumination as important risk factors of poor psychological health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Childhood adversities in UK treatment-seeking military veterans

2020 ◽  
pp. jramc-2019-001297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Ross ◽  
C Armour ◽  
D Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Military Veterans ◽  
Childhood Adversities ◽  
Physical Health Outcomes ◽  
Common Mental Health Problems ◽  
History Of ◽  
Mental Health Difficulties ◽  
Mental And Physical Health

IntroductionThe long-term consequences of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on adult physical and mental health are well documented in the literature. The current study sought to examine this relationship in a sample of UK treatment-seeking military veterans.MethodsThe data were collected through a cross-sectional self-report survey from military veterans who have sought help for mental health difficulties from a veteran-specific UK-based charity. The response rate was 67.2% (n=403) and the effective sample for this study consisted of 386 male veterans. Participants’ history of ACEs and current mental/physical health difficulties were assessed. A latent class analysis was conducted to categorise participants into subgroups based on their ACEs and the relationship of these to the mental and physical health outcomes was examined.ResultsFive classes of veterans with different combinations of ACEs were identified. A total of 97% reported at least one ACE. There were minimal differences between the classes on mental and physical health outcomes, but the total number of ACEs was related to aggression, common mental health problems and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).ConclusionsNo combination of ACEs was specifically predictive of adverse mental/physical health difficulties in our sample. Instead, those with a higher number of ACEs may be more prone to developing problems with aggression, common mental health problems and PTSD. Assessing the history of childhood adversities in military veterans is therefore important when veterans are seeking help for mental health difficulties, as some of these may be related to childhood adversities and may need to be addressed in treatment.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document