ECPN Student Poster Contestant: Gender Differences in the Associations between Post-Deployed Service Members’ Depressive Symptoms, Combat Experiences, and Non-Combat-Related Stress

Introduction: 18 % of service members in the National Guard and/or Reserve units are females (NG/R) and the numbers of women in the military, and hence exposed to combat, are increasing. The prevalence of depression is greater among women than men, and its detrimental impact on parenting and children is well-documented. Relatively little, however, is known about depression among service members, and there are no studies examining depression in service members who are parents. The current study examines the differential associations of gender, combat exposure, life stressors on depressive symptoms in service members.

Methods: Baseline data was drawn from a longitudinal randomized controlled trial of a parenting program targeting post-deployed military families. Participants in this study were service members who deployed with NG/R units to the Middle East at any time since 2001. Self-report measures were used to assess participants’ depressive symptoms, combat experience, non-combat-related life stress, and demographic information. Two hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted to estimate the influence of male (n= 282) and female (n=57) service members’ demographics, combat experience, and non-combat-related stress on their depressive symptoms. Regression coefficients of participants’ combat experience, and non-combat-related stress on depressive symptoms across male and female was compared using the chi-square difference test.

Results: Among men, there was a statistically significant main effect of combat experience, β = .158, t = 2.555, p = .011, and non-combat-related life stress, β = .388, t = 6.961, p < .001 on depressive symptoms. Among women, there was no statistically significant main effect of combat experience, β = .160, t = 1.196, p = .232 but there was a statistically significant main effect of non-combat-related life stress, β = .430, t = 3.320, p < .001. Chi square difference tests showed no difference between the regression coefficients of men vs. women, on the associations of combat experience, χ² (1, N = 339) = .093, p = .761, or non-combat-related life stress on depressive symptoms, χ² (1, N = 339) = .138, p = .710.

Conclusion: There is no evidence supporting gender differences in the association between post-deployed service members’ depressive symptoms, combat experience, and non-combat-related life stress. Life stress is associated with depressive symptoms in deployed parents, and combat exposure is associated with depressive symptoms in men only. Addressing both combat experiences and life stressors, particularly in male veterans, may facilitate more targeted prevention services towards military and veteran parents. Further research should be conducted with larger samples of female service members and veterans.