Women at war: understanding how women veterans cope with combat and military sexual trauma
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Authors
Mattocks, Kristin M.Haskell, Sally
Krebs, Erin
Justice, Amy C.
Yano, Elizabeth M.
Brandt, Cynthia A.
UMass Chan Affiliations
Department of Quantitative Health SciencesDocument Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2012-02-01Keywords
*Adaptation, PsychologicalAdult
Anxiety Disorders
Depressive Disorder, Major
Female
Humans
Interviews as Topic
Iraq War, 2003-2011
Middle Aged
Rape
Sexual Harassment
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
United States
Veterans
Young Adult
Coping
Adaptation
Mental health
Sexual harassment
Stress
Trauma
Women
Iraq
Afghanistan
USA
Veterans
War
Military and Veterans Studies
Psychiatry and Psychology
Women's Health
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The wars in Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom, OIF) and Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom, OEF) have engendered a growing population of US female veterans, with women now comprising 15% of active US duty military personnel. Women serving in the military come under direct fire and experience combat-related injuries and trauma, and are also often subject to in-service sexual assaults and sexual harassment. However, little is known regarding how women veterans cope with these combat and military sexual trauma experiences once they return from deployment. To better understand their experiences, we conducted semi-structured interviews with nineteen OEF/OIF women veterans between January-November 2009. Women veterans identified stressful military experiences and post-deployment reintegration problems as major stressors. Stressful military experiences included combat experiences, military sexual trauma, and separation from family. Women had varying abilities to address and manage stressors, and employed various cognitive and behavioral coping resources and processes to manage their stress.Source
2011 Dec 11. Link to article on publisher's site
DOI
10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.10.039Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/51025PubMed ID
22236641Related Resources
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.10.039