Experiential avoidance is associated with medical and mental health diagnoses in a national sample of deployed Gulf War veterans

Blakey, Shannon M.; Halverson, Tate F.; Evans, Mariah K.; Patel, Tapan A.; Hair, Lauren P.; Meyer, Eric C.; DeBeer, Bryann B.; Beckham, Jean C.; Pugh, Mary Jo; Calhoun, Patrick S.; Kimbrel, Nathan A.

doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.07.033

Cited by 23 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…A study of Vietnam War veterans showed that the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder was 5.4%, that of depression was 8.3 and 5.4% of veterans had suicidal thoughts ( 46 ). Similarly, Gulf War veterans developed post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and multiple chronic illnesses ( 47 ). Another study of British personnel who participated in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts showed that 6.2% had probable post-traumatic stress disorder and 21.9% had common mental disorders ( 48 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crisis due to war: anxiety, depression and stress in the population of 13 Latin American countries

Mejia,

Alvarez-Risco,

Chamorro-Espinoza

et al. 2023

Front. Psychiatry

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Sustainability may be at risk in a population that has altered health, according to Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3): Health and well-being. The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine could jeopardize SDG 3, specifically the mental health of the population. The present study sought to determine the association between severe anxiety, depression and stress in population of 13 Latin American countries according to fear about the war conflict. It was a cross-sectional, analytical and multicenter study. Anxiety, depression and stress were measured with the DASS-21 test (Cronbach’s Alpha: 0.97) and fear due to an armed crisis with a questionnaire already validated in Latin America (Cronbach’s Alpha: 0.92), which was also adjusted for sex, age, education level and country of residence. Descriptive and analytical statistics were obtained. Of the 2,626 respondents, the main fear was that weapons of mass destruction would be used. In the multivariate models, strong associations were found between fear of a possible world-scale armed conflict and having severe or very severe levels of anxiety (aPR: 1.97; 95% CI: 1.64–2.36; value of p <0.001), depression (aPR: 1.91; 95% CI: 1.54–2.36; value of p <0.001) or stress (aPR: 2.05; 95% CI: 1.63–2.57; value of p <0.001). Sustainability linked to SDG 3, specifically mental health, is affected by this type of significant events, given the possible global war crisis that could trigger major events, even more so if added to the deterioration already experienced by COVID-19 in the Latin American region, insecurity and constant political uncertainty.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crisis due to war: anxiety, depression and stress in the population of 13 Latin American countries

Mejia,

Alvarez-Risco,

Chamorro-Espinoza

et al. 2023

Front. Psychiatry

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“…All participants were considered Gulf War Era veterans, defined as individuals serving in active military, naval, or air service during the Gulf War Era who were discharged or released from service under conditions other than dishonorable. Project GRIT veterans were similar to the national cohort of VHA-utilizing veterans from which they were sampled with women veterans intentionally oversampled (for further detail regarding recruitment methodology, please see Blakey et al, 2021).These participants had served in the U.S. military during the 1991 Gulf War (regardless of whether they had deployed to the Persian Gulf region). While they received VHA care at some point and were all currently eligible for VHA services, they were not necessarily currently utilizing any form of VHA health care at the time of the survey.…”

Section: Methods Participants and Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Veterans Health Administration’s integrated model of care increases accessibility and delivery of mental health services.

Peter

Halverson

Blakey

et al. 2023

Psychological Services

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“…Study procedures were approved by the Institutional Review Boards of both the Durham Veteran Affairs Health Care System and the Salt Lake City VA Health Care System. Participants were eligible if they had served in an active duty capacity before May 1, 1990, and remained on active duty until after February 28, 1991, regardless of deployment status (for additional information of study procedures, see Blakey et al., 2021). An initial pool of 1,098,991 Gulf War era veterans, including 133,461 women, were identified using the VA administrative database.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Correlates and clinical associations of military sexual assault in Gulf War era U.S. veterans: Findings from a national sample

Patel

Mann

Nomamiukor

et al. 2022

Journal of Traumatic Stress

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Military sexual assault (MSA) is a prevalent issue among military personnel that can have direct implications on postmilitary mental health. Gulf War era U.S. veterans represent the first cohort in which women veterans were integrated into most aspects of military service except for combat. The present study sought to build on prior studies by identifying characteristics associated with the occurrence of MSA and clinical correlates of MSA and examining how these differ between men and women. This study analyzed cross‐sectional survey data from a national sample of treatment‐seeking Gulf War era veterans. Participants (N = 1,153) reported demographic information, clinical outcomes, military background, and history of MSA. MSA was more common among female veterans (n = 100, 41.3%) than male veterans (n = 32, 3.6%). The odds of experiencing MSA were approximately 19 times higher for female veterans relative to their male peers, OR = 18.92, p < .001. Moreover, as expected, MSA was robustly associated with probable current posttraumatic stress disorder, probable current depression, and past‐year suicidal ideation in female veterans, whereas combat exposure was robustly associated with these sequelae in male veterans. The present findings confirm that a large proportion of female veterans from the Gulf War era experienced MSA and highlight the deleterious correlates of MSA on veterans’ mental health. Sex differences of correlates of MSA and subsequent clinical associations are highlighted.

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Experiential avoidance is associated with medical and mental health diagnoses in a national sample of deployed Gulf War veterans

Cited by 23 publications

References 85 publications

Crisis due to war: anxiety, depression and stress in the population of 13 Latin American countries

Crisis due to war: anxiety, depression and stress in the population of 13 Latin American countries

The Veterans Health Administration’s integrated model of care increases accessibility and delivery of mental health services.

Correlates and clinical associations of military sexual assault in Gulf War era U.S. veterans: Findings from a national sample

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