Relationship of Stress Exposure to Health in Gulf War Veterans.

摘要

Research on Gulf War (GW) illnesses leaves many questions unanswered about diagnostic syndromes of GW illnesses, dimensions of stressor exposures encountered by GW veterans, relations among stressor exposures and GW syndromes or symptoms, and factors that may mediate these relationships. The proposed study has five key aims intended to address these gaps and enhance understanding of illnesses reported by GW veterans: (1) to identify and examine dimensions of illnesses and health problems commonly reported by UW veterans; (2) to assess exposures to environmental toxins and psychosocial stresses comprehensively and to identify the dimensions of these exposures; (3) to examine the extent to which particular types of dimensions of exposure experienced during deployment and participation in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm (ODS/S) are associated with the commonly reported and undefined post-war health problems of GW veterans; (4) to clarify how premilitary and predeployment adversities, risk factors, and protective factors affect GW illness outcomes; (5) to examine the mediating role of post-ODS/S factors (e.g., instrumental and emotional social support, general psychological functioning, specific comorbid psychiatric disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder and depression) on GW illness outcomes. These aims will be achieved by obtaining in-depth data from a national probability sample of GW veterans, including men and women in active and reserve components.