Publication year
2018
Citation Title
Resilience as a moderating factor between stress and alcohol-related consequences in the Army National Guard.
Journal Name
Addictive Behaviors
Journal Volume
80
Page Numbers
22-27
DOI
10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.01.002
Summary
Alcohol-related consequences, such as hangovers and headaches after drinking, regrettable sexual situations, physical fights, conflict with family, drinking and driving, loss of memory, and being late for duty are all possible outcomes when people abuse alcohol. This study examined the likelihood of these consequences occurring in the context of low, medium, or high stress and low, medium, and high resilience (i.e., ability to "bounce back" from stress) in National Guard Soldiers. Results indicate resilience is most important when a Soldier is under stress.
Key Findings
Soldiers with the highest stress levels and low resilience experienced twice as many alcohol-related consequences as those with high resilience but the same level of stress.
Soldiers with average resilience were also found to have an increase in alcohol-related consequences when under high stress, compared to Soldiers with high resilience.
Resilience levels did not affect alcohol-related consequences when Soldiers were under low stress.
Soldiers who were younger, male, and single demonstrated increased risk of alcohol-related consequences.
Implications for Program Leaders
Provide education to Service members and their spouses regarding the importance of resilience when under conditions of high stress
Offer workshops for Service members and their families to build resilience, particularly when stress increases
Target alcohol reduction efforts toward Service members who are under increased stress, such as during reintegration
Implications for Policy Makers
Recommend development and continuation of programs promoting resilience, stress reduction, and alcohol use reduction particularly for Soldiers who are younger, single, and male
Encourage community-based programs that are easily accessible to manage stress for National Guard and Reserve Service members and their families
Encourage the training of professionals who work with National Guard and Reserve families to monitor and address stress, resilience, and alcohol abuse
Methods
Participants were recruited through onsite, in-person invitations at various National Guard events from December 2014 to August 2016.
Data were gathered via self-report from Service members.
Alcohol-related consequences were measured with researcher-created measures, while stressors and resilience were measured with previously validated measures.
Participants
Participants were 320 National Guard Soldiers in Georgia and North Carolina, 30% female and 70% male. Races/ethnicities of the participants were White (64%), Black (23%), Latino (7%), and Other (6%).
The average age of the participants was 32 years old (SD = 9 years) and most participants (88%) had completed at least some college.
Sixty-three percent of participants were married or living as married, and 37% were single, divorced, or widowed.
Nine percent of participants were rank E1-E3, 59% were E4-E6, 15% were E7-E9, and 16% were W1-W5/O1-O6. Fifty-eight percent had been previously combat deployed, 9% had been noncombat deployed, and 33% had never been deployed. Forty-two percent had been deployed more than once, and 29% had been deployed three or more times. Among the sample, average time since most recent deployment was five years.
Limitations
The participants were a self-selected convenience sample; therefore, the results may not be generalizable to all Reserve Component Soldiers.
All the measures were self-report and therefore were subject to social desirability bias, particularly since the topic being studied was sensitive, which could limit the validity of the study.
The study was completed at one time point, which limits the ability to determine causality.
Avenues for Future Research
Explore alcohol-related consequences, resilience, and stressors with a longitudinal design
Consider accessing alternative sources of data, such as discipline records, family members/spouses, and different methodologies, such as clinical interviews
Consider Service members' family status, such as having children, and mental health status, such as PTSD, in conjunction with alcohol-related consequences, resilience, and stressors
Focus
National Guard
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
Due to the current prolonged conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, members of the United States National Guard and Reserve have shifted from a historically support-based role to an integral segment of combat efforts. Clinical and epidemiological research studies conducted on both civilian and military populations have documented high rates of comorbidity of stress disorders and substance use disorders. It is widely understood that excessive alcohol use is an issue among military personnel. The aim of this paper is to describe risk factors for alcohol-related serious consequences in a study of Army National Guard service members, as well as the role of resilience in protecting against these risks. Members of the National Guard (N = 320) participated in the survey. We conducted a multiple regression to predict alcohol-related serious consequences and a simple moderation analysis was performed. After controlling for race, education, and deployment history, several variables emerged as significant predictors of alcohol-related consequences. Higher stressors, lower resilience, younger age, being unmarried and not living as married, being male, and identifying as non-Hispanic were associated with
higher levels of serious alcohol-related consequences. Results revealed that resilience significantly moderated the relationship between stress and alcohol-related consequences. This study furthers our understanding of the alcohol-stress relationship by contextualizing it in terms of behaviors related to alcohol, as opposed to measuring consumption only. Most importantly, our work extends prior research in its examination of resilience as a moderator of the relationship between stress and serious alcohol-related consequences.
higher levels of serious alcohol-related consequences. Results revealed that resilience significantly moderated the relationship between stress and alcohol-related consequences. This study furthers our understanding of the alcohol-stress relationship by contextualizing it in terms of behaviors related to alcohol, as opposed to measuring consumption only. Most importantly, our work extends prior research in its examination of resilience as a moderator of the relationship between stress and serious alcohol-related consequences.
Abstract Document
PRTW Document
Attach