Title
Women at war: understanding how women veterans cope with combat and military sexual trauma
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Quantitative Health Sciences
Publication Date
2012-2
Document Type
Article
Subjects
*Adaptation, Psychological; Adult; 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
Disciplines
Military and Veterans Studies | Psychiatry and Psychology | Women's Health
Abstract
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.
Keywords
Coping, Adaptation, Mental health, Sexual harassment, Stress, Trauma, Women, Iraq, Afghanistan, USA, Veterans, War
DOI of Published Version
10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.10.039
Source
2011 Dec 11. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Social science and medicine (1982)
Related Resources
PubMed ID
22236641
Repository Citation
Mattocks KM, Haskell S, Krebs E, Justice AC, Yano EM, Brandt CA. (2012). Women at war: understanding how women veterans cope with combat and military sexual trauma. Women’s Health Research Faculty Publications. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.10.039. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/wfc_pp/560