BACKGROUNDThe changing scope of women’s roles in combat operations has led to growing interest in women’s deployment experiences and post-deployment adjustment.OBJECTIVESTo quantify the gender-specific frequency of deployment stressors, including sexual and non-sexual harassment, lack of social support and combat exposure. To quantify gender-specific post-deployment mental health conditions and associations between deployment stressors and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), to inform the care of Veterans returning from the current conflicts.DESIGNNational mail survey of OEF/OIF Veterans randomly sampled within gender, with women oversampled.SETTINGThe community.PARTICIPANTSIn total, 1,207 female and 1,137 male Veterans from a roster of all Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) Veterans. Response rate was 48.6 %.MAIN MEASURESDeployment stressors (including combat and harassment stress), PTSD, depression, anxiety and alcohol use, all measured via self-report.KEY RESULTSWomen were more likely to report sexual harassment (OR = 8.7, 95% CI: 6.9, 11) but less likely to report combat (OR = 0 .62, 95 % CI: 0.50, 0.76). Women and men were equally likely to report symptoms consistent with probable PTSD (OR = 0 .87, 95 % CI: 0.70, 1.1) and symptomatic anxiety (OR  =  1.1, 9 5% CI: 0.86, 1.3). Women were more likely to report probable depression (OR = 1.3, 95 % CI: 1.1, 1.6) and less likely to report problematic alcohol use (OR  = 0 .59, 9 5% CI: 0.47, 0.72). With a five-point change in harassment stress, adjusted odds ratios for PTSD were 1.36 (95 % CI: 1.23, 1.52) for women and 1.38 (95 % CI: 1.19, 1.61) for men. The analogous associations between combat stress and PTSD were 1.31 (95 % CI: 1.24, 1.39) and 1.31 (95 % CI: 1.26, 1.36), respectively.CONCLUSIONSAlthough there are important gender differences in deployment stressors—including women’s increased risk of interpersonal stressors—and post-deployment adjustment, there are also significant similarities. The post-deployment adjustment of our nation’s growing population of female Veterans seems comparable to that of our nation’s male Veterans.

Examining age differences in implicit and explicit attitudes sheds light into the development and complexities of aging perceptions in different age groups. The current study's findings are discussed in the context of applications to and implications of reducing prejudice toward older adults.

What factors predict whether Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) veterans who need mental health care receive that care? The present research examined factors associated with a need for care, sociodemographic characteristics, deployment experiences, and perceptions of care as gender-specific predictors of overall mental health care use and Veterans Affairs (VA) mental health care use for male and female OEF/OIF veterans (N = 1,040). Only veterans with a probable need for mental health care, as determined by scores on self-report measures of mental health symptomatology, were included in the sample. Overall, predictors of service use were similar for women and men. A notable exception was the finding that lower income predicted use of both overall and VA mental health care for women, but not men. In addition, sexual harassment was a unique predictor of VA service use for women, whereas non-White race was predictive of VA service use for men only. Knowledge regarding the factors that are associated with use of mental health care (broadly and at VA) is critical to ensuring that veterans who need mental health care receive it.