Deployment stressors, gender, and mental health outcomes among Gulf War I veterans

An Erratum has been published for this article in Journal of Traumatic Stress 18(3) 2005, 271–284 []. Findings indicate that war‐zone exposure has negative implications for the postdeployment adjustment of veterans; however, most studies have relied on limited conceptualizations of war‐zone exposure and focused on male samples. In this study, an array of deployment stressors that were content valid for both female and male Gulf War I military personnel was examined to elucidate gender differences in war‐zone exposure and identify gender‐based differential associations between stressors and mental health outcomes. While women and men were exposed to both mission‐related and interpersonal stressors and both stressor categories were associated with mental health outcomes, women reported more interpersonal stressors and these stressors generally had a stronger impact on women's than on men's mental health. Exceptions are described, and implications are discussed.