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The psychological health of contractors working in war zones
Author(s) -
Feinstein Anthony,
Botes Maggie
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1002/jts.20390
Subject(s) - psychological distress , depression (economics) , software deployment , psychological health , psychology , alcohol consumption , psychiatry , sample (material) , distress , public health , mental health , clinical psychology , medicine , nursing , engineering , alcohol , biochemistry , chemistry , software engineering , chromatography , economics , macroeconomics
This study examines the psychological health of contractors working in war zones. Seventy‐nine contractors completed an Internet‐based psychiatric assessment. The sample was exclusively male with a mean age of 43 ( SD = 7) years. The number of contractors whose scores exceeded the cutoff points for depression, psychological distress, and excessive weekly alcohol consumption were 15 (20%), 21 (28%), and 13 (17%), respectively. A third of contractors had posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) scores in the moderate to severe range. Approximately 10% of contractors had employer‐organized access to psychological help following deployment. This study provides the first empirical data showing that a significant minority of contractors working in war zones are psychologically distressed and not receiving therapy.