PhD candidate Xandra Plas and colleagues have published a new article on the development of depressive symptoms several years after deployment. This study examined whether pre-deployment characteristics, such as fatigue and personality traits, are associated with the emergence of depressive symptoms a few years post-deployment.
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Research aims
This study is a follow-up to previous research demonstrating that depressive symptoms can develop along different trajectories after deployment. Specifically, some military personnel showed no depressive symptoms, some had symptoms prior to deployment that persisted afterward, and a subgroup developed depressive symptoms two years post-deployment.
As a follow-up, this study aimed to investigate whether pre-deployment characteristics are associated with the development of depressive symptoms after deployment. In particular, we examined whether military personnel who exhibited depressive symptoms either before deployment or with delayed onset two years after deployment differ in their pre-deployment characteristics from those who remained free of depressive symptoms.
Results of the study
For this study, data from the PRISMO cohort was used, consisting of approximately 1,000 male and female military personnel. Those who exhibited high levels of depressive symptoms immediately after deployment also reported elevated symptoms before deployment, including general mental health complaints, PTSD, fatigue, and burnout. No significant differences in pre-deployment characteristics were found between the group that developed depressive symptoms only two years post-deployment and the group that showed no increase in symptoms.
Conclusions
Our findings indicate that military personnel who develop depressive symptoms often experience elevated levels of other mental health complaints prior to deployment. In contrast, those who do not develop depressive symptoms generally report fewer mental health problems before deployment. This suggests that difficulties in one area of mental health frequently co-occur with challenges in other domains. Therefore, future research and mental health interventions should address multiple types of symptoms simultaneously.
Furthermore, it appears challenging to predict, based on pre-deployment characteristics alone, which military personnel will develop depressive symptoms only two years after deployment. The delayed onset of depressive symptoms is likely related to increased exposure to adverse life events following deployment. These findings underscore the importance of long-term monitoring of military personnel, as depressive symptoms may emerge well after deployment.