@article{ref1,
title="Resilience facilitates adjustment through greater psychological flexibility among Iraq/Afghanistan war veterans with and without mild traumatic brain injury",
journal="Rehabilitation psychology",
year="2019",
author="Elliott, Timothy R. and Hsiao, Yu-Yu and Kimbrel, Nathan A. and Debeer, Bryann B. and Gulliver, Suzy Bird and Kwok, Oi-Man and Morissette, Sandra B. and Meyer, Eric C.",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="OBJECTIVES: Although many Iraq/Afghanistan warzone veterans report few problems with adjustment, a substantial proportion report debilitating mental health symptoms and functional impairment, suggesting the influence of personal factors that may promote adjustment. A significant minority also incur warzone-related traumatic brain injury (TBI), the majority of which are of mild severity (mTBI). We tested direct and indirect pathways through which a resilient personality prototype predicts adjustment of warzone veterans with and without mTBI over time. <br><br>METHOD: A sample of 264 war veterans (181 men) completed measures of lifetime and warzone-related TBIs, personality traits, psychological adjustment, quality of life, and functional impairment. Social support, coping, and psychological flexibility were examined as mediators of the resilience-adjustment relationship. Instruments were administered at baseline, 4-, 8-, and 12-month assessments. Structural equation models accounted for combat exposure and response style. <br><br>RESULTS: Compared with a nonresilient personality prototype, a resilient prototype was directly associated with lower PTSD, depression, and functional disability, and higher quality of life at all time-points. Warzone mTBIs frequency was associated with higher scores on a measure of functional disability. Indirect effects via psychological flexibility were observed from personality to all outcomes, and from warzone-related mTBIs to PTSD, depression, and functional disability, at each time-point. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Several characteristics differentiate veterans who are resilient from those who are less so. These findings reveal several factors through which a resilient personality prototype and the number of mTBIs may be associated with veteran adjustment. Psychological flexibility appears to be a critical modifiable factor in veteran adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0090-5550",
doi="10.1037/rep0000282",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/rep0000282"
}