Operational Stress and Correlates of Mental Health Among Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay Military Personnel

Military personnel deployed to Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay (JTF-GTMO) faced numerous occupational stressors. As part of a program evaluation, personnel working at JTF-GTMO completed several validated self-report measures. Personnel were at the beginning, middle, or end of their deployment phase. This study presents data regarding symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, alcohol abuse, depression, and resilience among 498 U.S. military personnel deployed to JTF-GTMO in 2009. We also investigated individual and organizational correlates of mental health among these personnel. Findings indicated that tenure at JTF-GTMO was positively related to adverse mental health outcomes. Regression models including these variables had R2 values ranging from .02 to .11. Occupation at JTF-GTMO also related to mental health such that guards reported poorer mental health than medical staff. Reluctance to seek out mental health care was also related to mental health outcomes. Those who reported being most reluctant to seek out care tended to report poorer mental health than those who were more willing to seek out care. Results suggested that the JTF-GTMO deployment was associated with significant psychological stress, and that both job-related and attitude-related variables were important to understanding mental health symptoms in this sample. Spanish Abstracts by the Asociacion Chilena de Estres Traumatico ESTRÉS OPERACIONAL EN EL PERSONAL DE JTF- GTMO El personal militar asignado a las Fuerzas Especiales de la base de Guantánamo (JTF-GTMO) enfrenta numerosos estresores ocupacionales. Como parte de un programa de evaluación, el personal militar asignado a esta base completó escalas de auto-reporte validadas. El personal aludido estaba en la fase inicial, media o de término de su designación en la base. Este estudio presenta datos considerando síntomas de trastorno por estrés postraumático, abuso de alcohol, depresión y resiliencia en 490 militares asignado a las Fuerzas Especiales- Guantánamo en 2009. También se investigó correlaciones de salud mental individual y organizacional en este personal. Los hallazgos indicaron que los cargos en JTF-GTMO, fueron positivamente correlacionados con malos resultados en su salud mental. Los modelos de regresión utilizados mostraron que estas variables tuvieron un valor de R2 en un rango de .02 a 0.11. La ocupación en JTF-GTMO, también se correlacionó con salud mental, los guardias reportaron una peor salud mental que el equipo médi