An exploratory domain analysis of deployment risks and protective features and their association to mental health, cognitive functioning and job performance in military personnel

• Published in: Anxiety, stress, and coping stress, and coping, 2024-01, Vol.37 (1), p.16-28
• Main Authors: Crane, M F, Hazel, G, Kunzelmann, A, Kho, M, Gucciardi, D F, Rigotti, T, Kalisch, R, Karin, E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cognition; Cognition & reasoning; Humans; Mental Health; Military deployment; Military personnel; Military Personnel - psychology; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology; Work Performance
• ISSN: 1061-5806; 1477-2205
• DOI: 10.1080/10615806.2023.2228707

Meta-analyses of military deployment involve the exploration of focused associations between predictors and peri and post-deployment outcomes. We aimed to provide a large-scale and high-level perspective of deployment-related predictors across eight peri and post-deployment outcomes. Articles reporting effect sizes for associations between deployment-related features and indices of peri and post-deployment outcomes were selected. Three-hundred and fourteen studies ( = 2,045,067) and 1,893 relevant effects were retained. Deployment features were categorized into themes, mapped across outcomes, and integrated into a big-data visualization. Studies of military personnel with deployment experience were included. Extracted studies investigated eight possible outcomes reflecting functioning (e.g., post-traumatic stress, burnout). To allow comparability, effects were transformed into a Fisher's . Moderation analyses investigating methodological features were performed. The strongest correlates across outcomes were emotional (e.g., guilt/shame:  = 0.59 to 1.21) and cognitive processes (e.g., negative appraisals:  = -0.54 to 0.26), adequate sleep on deployment ( = -0.28 to - 0.61), motivation ( = -0.33 to - 0.71), and use of various coping strategies/recovery strategies ( = -0.25 to - 0.59). Findings pointed to interventions that target coping and recovery strategies, and the monitoring of emotional states and cognitive processes post-deployment that may indicate early risk.