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Resilience facilitates adjustment through greater psychological flexibility among Iraq/Afghanistan war veterans with and without mild traumatic brain injury.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Elliott, TR; Hsiao, Y-Y; Kimbrel, NA; DeBeer, BB; Gulliver, SB; Kwok, O-M; Morissette, SB; Meyer, EC
Published in: Rehabil Psychol
November 2019

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. 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. 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. 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).

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Published In

Rehabil Psychol

DOI

EISSN

1939-1544

Publication Date

November 2019

Volume

64

Issue

4

Start / End Page

383 / 397

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Veterans
  • Texas
  • Resilience, Psychological
  • Rehabilitation
  • Male
  • Iraq War, 2003-2011
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Brain Injuries, Traumatic
  • Afghan Campaign 2001-
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Elliott, T. R., Hsiao, Y.-Y., Kimbrel, N. A., DeBeer, B. B., Gulliver, S. B., Kwok, O.-M., … Meyer, E. C. (2019). Resilience facilitates adjustment through greater psychological flexibility among Iraq/Afghanistan war veterans with and without mild traumatic brain injury. Rehabil Psychol, 64(4), 383–397. https://doi.org/10.1037/rep0000282
Elliott, Timothy R., Yu-Yu Hsiao, Nathan A. Kimbrel, Bryann B. DeBeer, Suzy Bird Gulliver, Oi-Man Kwok, Sandra B. Morissette, and Eric C. Meyer. “Resilience facilitates adjustment through greater psychological flexibility among Iraq/Afghanistan war veterans with and without mild traumatic brain injury.Rehabil Psychol 64, no. 4 (November 2019): 383–97. https://doi.org/10.1037/rep0000282.
Elliott TR, Hsiao Y-Y, Kimbrel NA, DeBeer BB, Gulliver SB, Kwok O-M, et al. Resilience facilitates adjustment through greater psychological flexibility among Iraq/Afghanistan war veterans with and without mild traumatic brain injury. Rehabil Psychol. 2019 Nov;64(4):383–97.
Elliott, Timothy R., et al. “Resilience facilitates adjustment through greater psychological flexibility among Iraq/Afghanistan war veterans with and without mild traumatic brain injury.Rehabil Psychol, vol. 64, no. 4, Nov. 2019, pp. 383–97. Pubmed, doi:10.1037/rep0000282.
Elliott TR, Hsiao Y-Y, Kimbrel NA, DeBeer BB, Gulliver SB, Kwok O-M, Morissette SB, Meyer EC. Resilience facilitates adjustment through greater psychological flexibility among Iraq/Afghanistan war veterans with and without mild traumatic brain injury. Rehabil Psychol. 2019 Nov;64(4):383–397.

Published In

Rehabil Psychol

DOI

EISSN

1939-1544

Publication Date

November 2019

Volume

64

Issue

4

Start / End Page

383 / 397

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Veterans
  • Texas
  • Resilience, Psychological
  • Rehabilitation
  • Male
  • Iraq War, 2003-2011
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Brain Injuries, Traumatic
  • Afghan Campaign 2001-