Assessment of trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder, and related mental health outcomes.

Abstract

There are many complexities inherent in the assessment of veterans who have served in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Not only do many OEF and OIF veterans have histories of exposure to a range of potentially traumatic or highly stressful events, but the consequences of these exposures may manifest themselves in varied mental health problems following deployment. Therefore, the development of a comprehensive clinical case conceptualization requires an in-depth understanding of the deployment-related experiences that increase veterans' risk of mental health problems, as well as the postdeployment mental health sequelae that are most relevant for this population.Consistent with this goal, we begin this chapter with a discussion of predeployment, deployment, and postdeployment factors that may be associated with postdeployment sequelae to provide a conceptual framework