ArticlePsychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy2019
"I knew it was wrong the moment I got the order": A narrative thematic analysis of moral injury in combat veterans.
Article in Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Artificial intelligence in traumatic stress treatment: The TRUST framework for ethical development, clinical applications, and research advancement.Journal of traumatic stress · 2026Review
- The therapeutic role of self-transcendence in moral injury recovery:Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Toward a framework of moral challenges in military operations: implications for psychological resilience.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- A Scoping Review of Military Culture, Military Identity, and Mental Health Outcomes in Military Personnel.Military medicine · 2024Article
- Narratives of transformation and recovery in New Zealand Defence Force personnel accessing mental health support.Journal of military, veteran and family health · 2024Article
- Morally Injurious Events and Depression: Examining the Role of Rumination Among Combat-Deployed Military Veterans in the Community.International journal of stress management · 2024Article
- Examining the health and wellness of solo self-employed workers through narratives of precarity: a qualitative study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- The role of informal support systems during illness: A qualitative study of solo self-employed workers in Ontario, Canada.PloS one · 2024Article
- "Caught in the crossfire" - women veterans' testimonies regarding excessively violent acts committed in combat zones.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Self-employment, illness, and the social security system: a qualitative study of the experiences of solo self-employed workers in Ontario, Canada.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Negative cognitions in the context of suicidality after exposure to military-related potentially morally injurious events.Journal of military, veteran and family health · 2023Article
- 'Against everything that got you into the job': experiences of potentially morally injurious events among Canadian public safety personnel.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2023Article
- Secondary Traumatic Stress and Moral Injury in Maternity Care Providers: A Narrative and Exploratory Review.Frontiers in global women's health · 2022Review
- Do morally injurious experiences and index events negatively impact intensive PTSD treatment outcomes among combat veterans?European journal of psychotraumatology · 2021Article
- The moderating role of emotion dysregulation in the relation between potentially morally injurious experiences and alcohol misuse among military Veterans.Military psychology : the official journal of the Division of Military Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2021Article
- Commentary on the Special Issue on Moral Injury: Leveraging Existing Constructs to Test the Heuristic Model of Moral Injury.Journal of traumatic stress · 2020Article
- Meaning in life moderates the association between morally injurious experiences and suicide ideation among U.S. combat veterans: Results from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study.Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy · 2019Article
- Mechanisms of Moral Injury Following Military Sexual Trauma and Combat in Post-9/11 U.S. War Veterans.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveMoral injury is a nascent construct intended to capture reactions to events that violate deeply held beliefs and moral values. Although a model of moral injury has been proposed, many of the theoretical propositions of this model have yet to be systematically studied.
methodWe conducted semistructured interviews with eight veterans who reported experiencing morally injurious events during war zone deployments.
resultsUsing narrative thematic analysis, five main themes and associated subthemes emerged from the data. The main themes capture the timing of the event, contextual factors that affected the decision-making process during the morally injurious event, reactions to the moral injurious event, search for purpose and meaning, and opening up.
conclusionThe findings from the present study supported an existing model of moral injury, while extending it in several important ways. Preliminary clinical recommendations and directions for future research are discussed based on the study findings. These include directly exploring the context surrounding the morally injurious event, examining the veterans' moral appraisals, and helping them assume appropriate responsibility for their actions to reduce excessive self-blame. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
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