Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Veterans' Perceptions Of Military Stigma And The Shame Associated With Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress, Alexander J. Buelna

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Military stigma is a heavy burden of social stigma internalized by veterans who are diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during post-deployment psychological screening. PTSD is classified as a mental disorder associated with widespread reluctance to seek medical assistance. Among military veterans who suffer from combat-related posttraumatic stress (PTS), military stigma is considered a widespread problem. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore veterans' perceptions of various aspects of military stigma, including post-deployment psychological screening, the diagnosis of PTSD, and factors associated with reluctance to seek medical assistance for PTS. In-depth interviews were conducted with a convenience sample …

Religiosity And Support For The Use Of Enhanced Interrogation, Stuart Hitchcock

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Young adults in the United States are less interested in organized religion and consider the use of enhanced interrogation techniques on terrorists and captured U.S. military personnel by enemy forces as justifiable. The relationship between religion, political ideology, and enhanced interrogation support are well known, yet it is not known if young adults with current or prior military service also consider these applications justifiable. The purpose of this study was to determine if religion influenced the opinions of young adults with current or former military service on the use of enhanced interrogations. The theoretical framework for this study included Milgram's …

Military Enlistment: The Motivations Of Former Military Personnel Coming From Single-Parent Homes, Jada Amber Philips

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this study was to examine how the single-parent home environment, together with other demographic attributes like socioeconomic status, influenced young adults' decisions to enlist in the military. Adolescents transitioning into adulthood are often faced with the choices of what to do after high school, such as whether or not to join the military. Previous studies on youth enlistment in the military do not address in-depth the question of why they enlist or their motivating factors. Interviews via face-to-face, over the phone or via Skype, were conducted with 9 participants between the ages of 25-35 years who were …

U.S. Army Enlisted Soldiers' Adherence To Prescribed Malaria Chemoprophylaxis In Afghanistan, Michael Paul Brisson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Over the past 13 years, the United States Army has been engaged in armed conflict within Afghanistan. Unfortunately, the United States Army has been forced to evacuate soldiers from the battlefield because of malaria, a parasitic disease that is endemic in Afghanistan. Even though the U.S. Army has adopted an effective chemoprophylaxis protocol, soldiers' adherence to their prescribed medication has been historically low. This research addressed a gap in literature regarding the adherence rates of U.S. Army enlisted soldiers to their prescribed oral malaria chemoprophylaxis. In addition, this research investigated self-reported reasons for soldiers' nonadherence to this medication. The study …

Exploring Protégé Perceptions Of Success And Failure In Formal, Jeffrey Wayne Strickland

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since the 1993 inception of the mentoring program in the U.S. Navy, little evidence has been collected on its effectiveness, primarily because of difficulties with instrumentation and conceptualization in conducting such assessments. The purpose of this correlational study was to identify external factors affecting military protégés' satisfaction with their mentoring experience. The conceptual framework of this study was based on Kram's mentor model theory, which includes career and psychosocial support functions. A 5-item Likert survey instrument was designed to measure the dependent variables of satisfaction with career mentoring and satisfaction with personal mentoring against 10 independent variables: dyad compatibility, mentor …

Lived Experiences Of Military Personnel Reintegrating With Their Preschool Aged Children, Rob Atchison

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have indicated that school-aged children with a caregiver who had been deployed were more likely to exhibit emotional and behavioral problems. These problems were impacted by the ability of the parent at home to manage emotions so as to utilize appropriate parenting skills with the child. However, there remained an important gap in the literature regarding the experiences of the military personnel reintegrating with their preschool aged child. Therefore, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to address the experiences of military caregivers with their preschool-aged children through semistructured interviews to better understand the variables that impacted the ability …

Examination Of Adhd Symptoms In Children Of Traveling Armed Services Members, Giovanda Dewette Norman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research has captured a notable increase in the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the United States. This increase in ADHD diagnosis is also seen in children in military communities. A gap in the literature exists regarding how military deployment affects the presentation of ADHD symptoms of children aged 3 to 15 in military families. The study examined the effect of military deployment status on children aged 3 to 15 with symptoms of ADHD. Participants were 164 military families, representative of the diversity of the military, from military bases around Southern California. Each participant responded to 2 questionnaires: …

Reasons For Living And Self-Reported Suicidal Behavior Among A Sample Of U.S. Army Personnel, Deborah Elaine Willis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Suicidal Behavior in the U.S. Army is a problem that persists despite significant efforts to promote help-seeking behaviors and the investment of millions of dollars to develop resilience-building interventions. Evidence-based literature supports the use of reasons for living as a protective factor against suicidal behavior in clinical and nonclinical samples, yet it has rarely been studied in an active duty (AD) Army population. This study examined the relationship between self-reported reasons for living and self-reported suicidal behavior, to determine if high levels of reasons for living correlated with low risk of suicidal behavior, over and above demographics, depression, stressful life …

Factors Influencing U.S Army Personnel Meeting Body Mass Index Standards, Salma Theus

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Factors Influencing U.S. Army Personnel Meeting Body Mass Index Standards

by

Salma Theus

MS, California State University, Dominguez Hills, 2008

BA, La Sierra University, 2005

Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

Psychology

Walden University

September 2014

U.S. Army Regulations require soldiers to be fit, as excessive weight negatively impacts their readiness, health, and morale. A quantitative study examined if personal, behavioral, and/or environmental factors predict a soldier's self-efficacy and body mass index. Data were obtained from 117 soldiers on 6 scales: the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, the Army Physical Fitness …