Discrepancies in military middle-school adolescents' and parents' perceptions of family functioning, social support, anger frequency, and concerns.

Previous literature suggests that adolescents' and parents' perceptions of family functioning are typically quite disparate and that perceptual discrepancies increase when a family is under stress. During the years of deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan adolescents in military families have faced uniquely stressful circumstances which may exacerbate difficulties commonly experienced during adolescence. For this study 91 middle-school adolescent-parent dyads from U.S. Army families were surveyed about their perceptions of family functioning, social support, the adolescent's frequency of anger, and the adolescent's concerns. Findings indicated significant differences in parents' and adolescents' matched ratings for all variables except adolescent concerns. Adolescent-parent perceptual discrepancies were greatest for families who had never experienced deployment and during or following the first deployment. The results of this study may be useful to those supporting military families as they develop strategies to help family members understand the others' perceptions and learn to communicate and solve problems despite the differences.

The impact of individual trauma symptoms of deployed soldiers on relationship satisfaction.

Research traditionally has focused on the development of individual symptoms in those who experienced trauma directly but has overlooked the interpersonal impact of trauma. The current study reports data from 45 male Army soldiers who recently returned from a military deployment to Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom) or Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) and their female spouses/partners. The results indicated that increased trauma symptoms, particularly sleep problems, dissociation, and severe sexual problems, in the soldiers significantly predicted lower marital/relationship satisfaction for both soldiers and their female partners. The results suggest that individual trauma symptoms negatively impact relationship satisfaction in military couples in which the husband has been exposed to war trauma.

Pyridostigmine bromide and the long-term subjective health status of a sample of over 700 male Reserve Component Gulf War era veterans.

Data from a 1996-1997 survey of approximately 700 Reserve Component male veterans indicate that the consumption of pyridostigmine bromide pills, used as a pretreatment for potential exposure to the nerve agent Soman, was a significant predictor of declines in reported subjective health status after the war, even after controlling for a number of other possible factors. Reported reactions to vaccines and other medications also predicted declines in subjective health. While higher military rank generally predicted better health during and after the war, educational attainment, minority status, number of days in theater, and age generally did not predict changes in subjective health. Although servicemembers were directed to take three pills a day, veterans reported a range of compliance--less than a fourth (24%) followed the medical instructions compared to 61% who took fewer than three pills daily and 6% who took six or more pills a day. Implications for use of pyridostigmine bromide are discussed.

Self-reported changes in subjective health and anthrax vaccination as reported by over 900 Persian Gulf War era veterans.

A 1999 study of United Kingdom servicemembers by Unwin, et al. recently found significant relationships between anthrax and other vaccinations, reactions to those vaccines, and later health problems for male current or former active military Gulf War veterans. Likewise, in 2000 Steele and in 1998 Gilroy found possible adverse effects of vaccinations on Gulf War veterans. However, the role of such vaccinations remains controversial; more recent government reports continue to dispute the existence of any data that might reflect adversely on the role of vaccinations on the health of Gulf War veterans. To address this controversy, the current study assessed similar relationships for over 900 Reserve Component Gulf War Era veterans from Ohio and nearby states. Gulf War veterans were more likely to report poorer health than non-Gulf veterans. Female veterans were more likely to report mild or severe reactions to vaccines than male veterans. Those veterans who received anthrax vaccine reported more reactions to vaccines than those who did not receive anthrax vaccine. Declines in long-term subjective health were associated with receipt of anthrax vaccine by Gulf War veterans but not for those who did not deploy to the Gulf, although few of the latter received anthrax vaccine. Regardless of deployment status, veterans who reported more severe reactions to vaccines were more likely to report declines in subjective health. Female veterans reported poorer health during the Gulf War than did male veterans, but sex was not related to veterans' reports of subjective health at subsequent times. It is recommended that servicemembers who experience severe reactions to anthrax vaccine be medically reevaluated before receiving further anthrax vaccine and that careful follow-ups be conducted of those receiving the vaccine currently, in accordance with Nass's 1999 recommendations. We also recommend that safer alternatives to thimerosal (a mercury sodium salt, 50% mercury) be used to preserve all vaccines.