Risk Propensity in Soldiers Post-deployment: A Series of Studies Exploring Contributing Factors to Risk-taking after a Combat Deployment

Anecdotal reports and experimental evidence suggests an increase in risk-taking behaviors and risk propensity in Soldiers after a combat deployment. This series of studies explored the relationship between risk propensity post-deployment with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury, combat experiences, perceptions of threats, and personality dimensions. The results suggest that risk propensity is influenced by PTSD, combat experiences, perceptions of deployment threat, and personality dimensions. Any discrepancies in results between the three studies in this series may be attributed to the amount of time since a subject's deployment, which varied between samples. The original document contains color images.