Predeployment gender differences in stressors and mental health among U.S. National Guard troops poised for Operation Iraqi Freedom deployment.

Increased exposure of women soldiers to combat in current conflicts heightens interest in the question of whether risk and resilience factors differ for female and male military personnel prior to deployment. The authors examined this question in a panel of 522 National Guard soldiers (462 men and 60 women) poised for deployment to Iraq. Soldiers completed a battery of self-report measures, including the PTSD Checklist, Beck Depression Inventory-II, and scales from the Deployment Risk and Resilience Inventory.

Impact of prior Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom combat duty on mental health in a predeployment cohort of National Guard soldiers.

Objectives: The goal was to examine the impact of prior Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) combat deployment on reported psychiatric and somatic symptoms among National Guard/Reserve (NGR) soldiers 1 month before deployment to Iraq.

Method: 522 NGR soldiers completed a survey assessing predeployment risk and resilience factors as well as current levels of PTSD, depressive, and somatic symptoms.

Results: Overall, soldiers reported few psychiatric symptoms present before deployment to Iraq.