Going to war does not have to hurt: preliminary findings from the British deployment to Iraq
- Authors:
- HUGHES Jamie Hacker, et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Psychiatry, 186(6), June 2005, pp.536-537.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
The authors carried out a brief longitudinal mental health screen of 254 members of the UK's Air Assault Brigade before and after deployment to Iraq last year. Analysis of General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) scores before and after deployment revealed a lower score after deployment (mean difference=0.93, 95% CI 0.35-1.52). This indicated a highly significant relative improvement in mental health (P < 0.005). Moreover, only 9 of a larger sample of 421 (2%) exceeded cut-off criteria on the Trauma Screening Questionnaire. These findings suggest that war is not necessarily bad for psychological health.
- Subject terms:
- longitudinal studies, mental health problems, post traumatic stress disorder, stress, war, armed forces personnel;
- Content type:
- research
- Location(s):
- Iraq
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Journal home page - ISSN online:
- 1472-1465
- ISSN print:
- 0007-1250