Citation

Hoopsick RA, Homish DL, Vest BM, Bartone PT, Homish GG. Alcohol Clin. Exp. Res. 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/acer.14561

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Negative emotions related to never having been deployed are associated with an increased risk of hazardous drinking among United States Army Reserve/National Guard (USAR/NG) soldiers. Resiliency factors are known to buffer the effects of combat on hazardous drinking among service members who have been deployed, but it is not known if these factors are protective for never-deployed service members, or which domains of hazardous drinking might be affected. Therefore, we examined the effects of a range of resiliency factors (i.e., marital satisfaction, psychological hardiness, intrinsic religiosity) on the relation between non-deployment emotions (NDE) and domains of hazardous drinking.

METHODS: We drew a subset of data from Operation: SAFETY (N = 112 never-deployed male soldiers), an ongoing study of USAR/NG soldiers. Regression models examined the main effects of NDE on each of the domains of hazardous drinking (i.e., total AUDIT score, consumption subscale, dependence subscale, alcohol-related problems subscale) and effect modification of each of the resiliency factors on the relations between NDE and the domains of hazardous drinking, separately. Final models controlled for years of military service, rank (enlisted vs. officer), number of military friends in the social network, and depression.

RESULTS: Greater NDE were associated with a higher total AUDIT score, alcohol consumption, and alcohol dependence (ps < 0.05), but not alcohol-related problems (p > 0.05). Marital satisfaction and psychological hardiness buffered the effects of NDE on total AUDIT score and alcohol dependence (p < 0.05). Intrinsic religiosity only modified the effect of NDE on total AUDIT score. None of the resiliency factors modified the effects of NDE on alcohol consumption or alcohol-related problems.

CONCLUSIONS: Soldiers with greater NDE had a greater risk of hazardous drinking in the presence of low resilience. Interventions to promote resiliency are an important consideration for protecting USAR/NG soldiers from hazardous drinking, regardless of deployment history.

Language: en

Keywords

resilience; military; hazardous drinking; non-deployment emotions