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The Impact of Infidelity on Combat‐Exposed Service Members
Author(s) -
Kachadourian Lorig K.,
Smith Brian N.,
Taft Casey T.,
Vogt Dawne
Publication year - 2015
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.22033
Subject(s) - stressor , mental health , service member , psychology , military service , military deployment , depression (economics) , psychiatry , military personnel , population , posttraumatic stress , clinical psychology , suicide prevention , social support , poison control , medicine , medical emergency , social psychology , environmental health , macroeconomics , archaeology , political science , law , economics , history
This study examined relationships between combat‐exposed Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans’ experiences related to infidelity during deployment (i.e., indicating that a partner was unfaithful or reporting concern about potential infidelity) and postdeployment mental health, as well as the role of subsequent stress exposure and social support in these associations. The sample consisted of 571 individuals (338 men). There were 128 participants (22.2%) who indicated that their partners were unfaithful during their most recent deployment. Of the remaining 443 participants, 168 (37.8%) indicated that they were concerned that their partners might have been unfaithful. Individuals who indicated that their partners were unfaithful exhibited higher levels of posttraumatic stress symptomatology (β = .08; f 2 = .18) and depression symptom severity (β = .09; f 2 = .14), compared to individuals who did not indicate that their partners were unfaithful. For both men and women, reported infidelity was associated with mental health indirectly via postdeployment life stressors, whereas infidelity concerns were indirectly associated with mental health via postdeployment life stressors for men only. Findings suggested that infidelity can have a significant impact on combat‐exposed veterans’ mental health and highlight the need for additional research on this understudied topic within the military population.