Moral injury, meaning making, and mental health in returning veterans

Abstract

Objective: This study examined whether exposure to morally injurious experiences (MIEs) contribute to mental health problems among returning Veterans via meaning made of possible traumas.

Method: A total of 131 Iraq and/or Afghanistan Veterans completed assessments of exposure to possible warzone traumas, meaning made of a salient stressor from their lives, and mental health symptomatology (e.g., posttraumatic stress, depression, suicidality).

Results: Structural equation modeling findings revealed that MIEs were indirectly linked with mental health outcomes via the extent to which Veterans were able to make meaning of their identified stressors. However, we also found that the direct path from MIEs to mental health problems was statistically significant.

Conclusion: These findings provide preliminary evidence that difficulties with meaning making could serve as a mediating pathway for how MIEs increase the risk for adjustment problems after warzone service, but that other factors associated with moral injury also have a bearing on psychological functioning among Veterans.

Keywords: Veterans; meaning making; miliary trauma; moral injury.