Behavioral health and treatment-seeking behaviors among deployed vs. non-deployed service members: How impactful is deployment on well-being?

ABSTRACT

Increasing attention has been dedicated to studying behavioral health of non-deployed military personnel. This investigation explored the impacts of a variety of sociodemographic and health factors on key behavioral health outcomes among active duty personnel. A secondary analysis was conducted using 2014 Defense Health Agency Health Related Behaviors Survey data (unweighted n = 45,762, weighted n = 1,251,606). Three logistic regression models investigated factors associated with reporting symptomatology consistent with depression, anxiety, and stress. We found that after adjusting for sociodemographic and other health variables (e.g., sleep), deployment was associated with stress but not anxiety or depression. Although deployed personnel were more likely to report increased levels of stress overall, few differences with respect to the sources of stressors were identified. While behavioral health screening and treatment needs may differ for non-deployed and deployed personnel, programs to support mental and physical well-being among all service members should be robustly promoted.

KEYWORDS:

• Behavioral health
• stress
• non-deployed
• treatment seeking

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Laura Hilton for her contributions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. The views expressed are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the US Army, US Navy, US Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the US Government.

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Data Usability Statement

Data are available upon reasonable request. Data inquiries should be made directly to Dr. Marshall-Aiyelawo (coauthor) at the Defense Health Agency.

Additional information

Funding

Defense Health Agency under Contract GS-00Q14OADU113.