The Marine Resiliency Study (MRS) is a prospective study of factors predictive of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among approximately 2,600 Marines in 4 battalions deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. We describe the MRS design and predeployment participant characteristics. Starting in 2008, our research team conducted structured clinical interviews on Marine bases and collected data 4 times: at predeployment and at 1 week, 3 months, and 6 months postdeployment. Integrated with these data are medical and career histories from the Career History Archival Medical and Personnel System (CHAMPS) database. The CHAMPS database showed that 7.4% of the Marines enrolled in MRS had at least 1 mental health diagnosis. Of enrolled Marines, approximately half (51.3%) had prior deployments. We found a moderate positive relationship between deployment history and PTSD prevalence in these baseline data.

Mental health treatment of military service members places unique demands on providers as their patients experience combat stress. This study assessed levels and predictors of burnout among mental health providers (N = 97) at military facilities, using a self-administered survey of demographic and work-related measures and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Burnout levels were comparable to studies of civilian mental health providers but were less severe than those of the Maslach Burnout Inventory normative sample. Working more hours, having more patients with personality disorders, increased patient caseloads, female gender, and being a psychiatrist were predictive of higher burnout scores. Having more confidants at work, a greater percentage of patients with traumatic brain injury, more clinical experience, and being a psychologist predicted lower burnout scores. These findings suggest that burnout levels among military providers are similar to those among civilian providers and may be alleviated by interventions targeting general institutional risk factors.

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Admission data from 6366 patients on the psychiatry service at Naval Medical Center San Diego were used to form a linear regression model to examine variables that might influence length of stay. Information was available on active duty status, primary diagnosis, age, gender, and marital status. Active duty service, older age, single marital status, and a primary diagnosis of a psychotic or mood disorder were all significantly associated with longer hospital stays. Primary diagnosis of an adjustment or personality disorder was associated with a shorter stay. Taking into account these variables, lengths of stay for active duty personnel averaged 4.00 +/- 0.39 days longer than for equivalent civilian admissions. Although military personnel are generally thought of as a healthy population, psychiatric hospital stays were found to be longer in service members than in their civilian counterparts. Financial repercussions and possible reasons for this are discussed.

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