Objective
Combat exposure has long-term negative effects in later life, and aspects of service may be appraised positively, but the long-term effects of combat on well-being in later life is largely unknown.
Method
The sample included 1,006 male veterans from the VA Normative Aging Study, surveyed by mail in 1986, 1990, and 1991 (Mage = 62.5, SD = 7.27). They reported on their combat exposure, desirable appraisals of military service, unit cohesion, dispositional optimism, self-rated health, and psychological well-being (PWB), as well as age, military rank, and education. Perceived positive aspects (PPA) of military service was postulated to mediate the effects of combat exposure on PWB. SEM was used to examine both mediating and moderating effects.
Results
Age, combat exposure, and optimism had independent effects on PPA, but optimism did not moderate the effect of combat exposure on PPA. Combat exposure had only indirect effects on PWB through the PPA, controlling for the direct effects of optimism. Education had no direct effects on the positive outcomes, but did have indirect effects through optimism.
Conclusion
Combat exposure contributes to positive well-being in later life, indirectly through positive appraisals, and this effect was independent of optimism. Thus, these results support the idea that combat veterans should be encouraged to focus on positive aspects of military service, which may serve as resilience resources to facilitate optimal aging.
A third of all veterans have experienced combat exposure (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2010). Military service and combat exposure are two distinct and potentially important determinants of physical health and psychological well-being in many older adults, especially men.In spite of a considerable amount of research, the influence of military service on health and well-being in later life remains unclear (MacLean & Elder, 2007
Objective: South Korea had the second largest contingent of soldiers in the Vietnam War, but little is known about their adaptation, especially in later life. Previous work in a different sample found very high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; 41%) among Korean Vietnam veterans (KVVs; Kang, Kim, & Lee, 2014), compared to 19–31% for American Vietnam veterans. We explored possible reasons for this high rate of PTSD, as well as anxiety and depressive symptoms, utilizing both vulnerability factors (e.g., war stressors) and protective factors (optimism, unit cohesion, and homecoming experiences). Method: The sample included 367 male KVVs surveyed by mail (M age = 72, SD = 2.66). Using hierarchical regressions controlling for demographics, we examined the relative contributions of different types of war stressors and then the protective factors. Results: Combat exposure was significantly associated with the three types of negative psychological symptoms, but their associations became nonsignificant when “subjective” war stressors (malevolent environments, perceived threat, and moral injury) were added. In the final models, malevolent environments were the strongest predictor for all three outcomes. In addition, moral injury was independently associated with PTSD symptoms, while perceived threat was marginally associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms. Among psychosocial factors, only optimism was negatively associated with the mental health outcomes. Conclusion: KVVs had very high rates of combat exposure, but malevolent environments played a more important role in their mental health in later life. These findings suggest the importance of considering adverse environmental factors in understanding PTSD in future studies.
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