ArticlePsychological medicine2022
Unit cohesion during deployment and post-deployment mental health: is cohesion an individual- or unit-level buffer for combat-exposed soldiers?
Article in Psychological medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05700435 (Increasing Resiliency in U.S. Air Force Personnel), which is not on this map. Cited by 14 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Increasing Resiliency in U.S. Air Force Personnel: A Multi-Site Trial
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Alcohol Use and Operational Readiness in the U.S. Active-duty Military: A Review of Burden, Culture, and Barriers to Care.Current psychiatry reports · 2026Review
- Neuroimmune-driven abrupt neuropsychiatric symptoms in children: preventing pathological fear consolidation.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Understanding the impact of the unique stressors of National Guard service: the National Guard Occupational Demands Model.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Perceptions of Organizational Affect and Holistic Mental Health in United States Army Soldiers During and After Deployment.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2025Article
- Burnout, morale, and psychological safety among designated group members in Canada's military.Journal of military, veteran and family health · 2025Article
- Assessing the psychometric properties of the Army STARRS' vertical unit cohesion scale: A large-scale, longitudinal study.Military psychology : the official journal of the Division of Military Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2025Article
- Effect of daily stressors and collective efficacy on post-traumatic stress symptoms among internally displaced persons in post-war northern Sri Lanka.BJPsych open · 2023Article
- Social network size and personality traits independently and prospectively predict distress disorders and suicidal behavior in U.S. Army soldiers.Psychological medicine · 2023Article
- Exposure to Bullying or Hazing During Deployment and Mental Health Outcomes Among US Army Soldiers.JAMA network open · 2023Article
- Longitudinal studies on cohesion in a military context - A systematic review.Military psychology : the official journal of the Division of Military Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2022Review
- Article
- Association Between Responsibility for the Death of Others and Postdeployment Mental Health and Functioning in US Soldiers.JAMA network open · 2021Article
- Cohort profile: the Ohio Army National Guard Mental Health Initiative (OHARNG-MHI).Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2021Article
- Social closeness and support are associated with lower risk of suicide among U.S. Army soldiers.Suicide & life-threatening behavior · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 7 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundUnit cohesion may protect service member mental health by mitigating effects of combat exposure; however, questions remain about the origins of potential stress-buffering effects. We examined buffering effects associated with two forms of unit cohesion (peer-oriented horizontal cohesion and subordinate-leader vertical cohesion) defined as either individual-level or aggregated unit-level variables.
methodsLongitudinal survey data from US Army soldiers who deployed to Afghanistan in 2012 were analyzed using mixed-effects regression. Models evaluated individual- and unit-level interaction effects of combat exposure and cohesion during deployment on symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and suicidal ideation reported at 3 months post-deployment (model
resultsAt the individual-level, buffering effects of horizontal cohesion were found for PTSD symptoms [
conclusionsPolicies and interventions that enhance horizontal cohesion may protect combat-exposed units against post-deployment mental health problems. Efforts to support individual soldiers who report low levels of horizontal or vertical cohesion may also yield mental health benefits.
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