Research Paper Title

Growth Mixture Modeling of Post-Combat Aggression: Application to Soldiers Deployed to Iraq.

Background

Prior research has found substantial heterogeneity in the course of key post-deployment outcomes, such as PTSD. The current paper employs growth mixture modeling to identify differential trajectories of change in the course of post-combat aggression.

Methods

A Brigade Combat Team completed surveys within 72 hours of return from an Iraq deployment, 4 months later, and at 12 months after return.

Results

Based on model fit indices, analyses yielded four latent aggression trajectories:

• “Low-stable”;
• “Delayed”;
• “Recovery”; and
• “Chronic”.

In addition, most individuals aligned with a “low-stable” trajectory indicative of minimal aggression in the first year following return from a combat deployment. A conditional model showed that lower posttraumatic stress and lower combat exposure characterised individuals aligned with the “low-stable” aggression trajectory relative to individuals aligned with “chronic” and “delayed” aggression trajectories.

Conclusions

Implications for targeted intervention and future research are discussed.

Reference

Cabrera, O.A., Adler, A.B. & Bliese, P.D. (2016) Growth Mixture Modeling of Post-Combat Aggression: Application to Soldiers Deployed to Iraq. Psychiatry Research. 2016 Oct 18;246:539-544. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2016.10.035. [Epub ahead of print].