Army reservists deployed to war zones at risk of abusing alcohol when they return home

By Stephen Beech via SWNS

Army reservists deployed to war zones are at risk of seeking solace in booze when they return home, warns a new study.

Using alcohol to cope with negative emotions after military deployment is known to be common among active-duty servicemen and women.

But new research, published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, suggests that reservists who return home after deployment may face similar risks - but with less support.

Study author Dr. James Griffith, said: “Combat events, such as having engaged in direct combat and experienced combat trauma, may precipitate a great deal of personal discomfort, necessitating some form of self-soothing, such as excessive alcohol use.”

Dr Griffith, a research fellow at the University of Utah’s National Center for Veterans Studies in the United States, looked at survey responses from Army Reserve National Guard soldiers who had recently returned from Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2010.

He used data from more than 4,500 reservists who responded to the U.S. Army’s Reintegration Unit Risk Inventory.

The anonymous survey included 80 questions about alcohol and drug use, as well as other aspects of the soldiers’ lives such as criminal behaviour, personal relationships, social support and psychological distress symptoms.

Dr. Griffith compared their responses to those of reservists who were serving their traditional part-time military role, as well as to previous research on deployed active-duty military personnel.

Overall, recently deployed and returned National Guard soldiers had higher rates of heavy drinking than non-deployed reservists in a traditional role - 29.9 percent compared to 24.1 percent for heavy drinking, and 33.9 percent compared to. 31.8 percent for binge drinking, respectively.

The rate of drinking among deployed reservists also exceeded that for deployed military personnel in several past studies.

Dr. Griffith said the most impactful factor was exposure to combat during deployment, which was associated with greater alcohol use.

He says that the nature of the reserve system may help contribute to its members being at higher risk for alcohol use.

Most of the time, reservists typically serve one weekend a month and 15 annual active-duty training days.

When called up, they serve full-time for a period of about one year. And in the recent Iraq and Afghanistan wars, reservists constituted about 30 to 40 percent of the US forces.

Dr. Griffith said: “On their return, reservists resume their part-time military service and civilian life and employment.

“Unlike active-duty military personnel, reservists typically do not live near military installations to receive behavioural health care.

"And many are not eligible for military health care unless conditions are directly related to active-duty military service.”

Griffith says more needs to be done to help recently returning, deployed reservists, such as more thoroughly assessing alcohol risk.

He also pointed out that the risk of unhealthy alcohol use is greatest within one year of returning, suggesting that a post-deployment educational programme for soldiers and their families on the risk factors for alcohol use could be helpful.

Dr. Griffith said: “Content would familiarise participants with indicators of unhealthy alcohol use and possible follow-up actions for those at risk.

“Specifically, information and guidance for obtaining informal and formal behavioural health care might be provided when soldiers are initially screened risk positive for alcohol misuse.”

He said special care needs to be taken to assess the emotional state of soldiers who have had traumatic combat experience as they are at especially high risk of alcohol misuse.

Dr. Griffith added: “Given that negative emotions likely play a role in the connection of combat events and alcohol use, some form of screening should assess soldiers’ emotional states, and for more severe negative emotions, include referral to psychological health care."