Unit cohesion during deployment and post-deployment mental health: is cohesion an individual- or unit-level buffer for combat-exposed soldiers?
Unit cohesion during deployment and post-deployment mental health: is cohesion an individual- or unit-level buffer for combat-exposed soldiers?
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DOI：
10.1017/s0033291720001786
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发表时间：
2022-01
影响因子：
6.9
通讯作者：
Bliese, Paul D.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Campbell-Sills, Laura;Flynn, Patrick J.;Choi, Karmel W.;Ng, Tsz Hin H.;Aliaga, Pablo A.;Broshek, Catherine;Jain, Sonia;Kessler, Ronald C.;Stein, Murray B.;Ursano, Robert J.;Bliese, Paul D.
关键词：
Unit cohesion may protect service member mental health by mitigating effects of combat exposure; however, questions remain about the origins of potential stress-buffering effects. We examined buffering effects associated with two forms of unit cohesion (peer-oriented horizontal cohesion and subordinate-leader vertical cohesion) defined as either individual-level or aggregated unit-level variables. Longitudinal survey data from US Army soldiers who deployed to Afghanistan in 2012 were analyzed using mixed-effects regression. Models evaluated individual- and unit-level interaction effects of combat exposure and cohesion during deployment on symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and suicidal ideation reported at 3 months post-deployment (model n’s=6,684 to 6,826). Given the small effective sample size (k=89), significance of unit-level interactions was evaluated at a 90% confidence level. At the individual-level, buffering effects of horizontal cohesion were found for PTSD symptoms (B=−0.11, 95% CI [−0.18, −0.04], p<.01) and depressive symptoms (B=−0.06, 95% CI [−0.10, −0.01], p<0.05); while a buffering effect of vertical cohesion was observed for PTSD symptoms only (B=−0.03, 95% CI [−0.06, −0.0001], p<.05). At the unit-level, buffering effects of horizontal (but not vertical) cohesion were observed for PTSD symptoms (B=−0.91, 90% CI [−1.70, −0.11], p=.06), depressive symptoms (B=−0.83, 90% CI [−1.24, −0.41], p<.01), and suicidal ideation (B=−0.32, 90% CI [−0.62, −0.01], p=.08). Policies and interventions that enhance horizontal cohesion may protect combat-exposed units against post-deployment mental health problems. Efforts to support individual soldiers who report low levels of horizontal or vertical cohesion may also yield mental health benefits.
