Does combat exposure affect well-being in later life? The VA Normative Aging Study.

Abstract

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.

Predictors of multiple domains of functioning in Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder: Results from the Mind Your Heart Study

“…Though surprising, these findings may reflect recent studies showing a curvilinear relationship between PTSD symptoms and posttraumatic growth, suggesting that some stress exposure may actually support resilience and growth (Shakespeare‐Finch & Lurie‐Beck, ). This idea is also supported by results showing that greater combat exposure is associated with greater perceived positive aspects of military experience, posttraumatic growth, and overall wellbeing (Lee et al, ; Mitchell, Gallaway, Millikan, & Bell, ). For example, Lee et al () found that combat exposure was positively associated with the person's perception of positive aspects of military service, independent of optimism.…”

“…This idea is also supported by results showing that greater combat exposure is associated with greater perceived positive aspects of military experience, posttraumatic growth, and overall wellbeing (Lee et al, ; Mitchell, Gallaway, Millikan, & Bell, ). For example, Lee et al () found that combat exposure was positively associated with the person's perception of positive aspects of military service, independent of optimism. Furthermore, combat exposure had an indirect effect on psychological wellbeing in later life, mediated by those positive appraisals of military experience.…”

“…This is unsurprising, given that dispositional optimism has been associated with psychological wellbeing across populations (Besser, Zeigler‐Hill, Weinberg, Pincus, & Neria, ; Broekhof et al, ). However, it is particularly important in the context of military servicemembers, as it has been shown to continue to be associated with greater wellbeing post service, regardless of levels of combat exposure (Lee, Aldwin, Choun, & Spiro, ). As such, optimism may reflect an important protective factor in the context of traumatic exposure and PTSD.…”

Vulnerability and resilience among older South Korean Vietnam war veterans: A latent profile analysis.

“…This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. optimism (Achat et al, 2000;Thomas et al, 2011), desirable appraisals of military service (Aldwin et al, 1994;Lee et al, 2017), and social support (Cox et al, 2017;DeViva et al, 2016;Kang et al, 2016) on mental health among veterans. In line with these prior research findings, older Korean veterans who had higher optimism, perceived their military service as more positive and less negative, and had higher levels of social support were likely to belong to the Resilience class.…”

When life gives you lemons make lemonade: cross-sectional age and gender differences in optimism

“…The psychological construct contributes to the well-known construct of Psycap or Psychological capital (Luthans et al, 2007) which leads to a positive state of development. Numerous studies have been conducted to investigate the relationship of optimism with coping strategies (Cabras and Mondo, 2018), distress and well-being (Carver et al, 1993;Lee et al, 2017;Bouchard et al, 2017;Espirito Santo and Daniel, 2018;Bandyopadhyay, 2018), positive outcomes (Saks and Ashforth, 2002) and other variables.…”