The long-term mental health impact of peacekeeping: prevalence and predictors of psychiatric disorder

BACKGROUND: The mental health outcomes of military personnel deployed on peacekeeping missions have been relatively neglected in the military mental health literature. AIMS: To assess the mental health impacts of peacekeeping deployments. METHOD: In total, 1025 Australian peacekeepers were assessed for current and lifetime psychiatric diagnoses, service history and exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs). A matched Australian community sample was used as a comparator. Univariate and regression analyses were conducted to explore predictors of psychiatric diagnosis. RESULTS: Peacekeepers had significantly higher 12-month prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (16.8%), major depressive episode (7%), generalised anxiety disorder (4.7%), alcohol misuse (12%), alcohol dependence (11.3%) and suicidal ideation (10.7%) when compared with the civilian comparator. The presence of these psychiatric disorders was most strongly and consistently associated with exposure to PTEs. CONCLUSIONS: Veteran peacekeepers had significant levels of psychiatric morbidity. Their needs, alongside those of combat veterans, should be recognised within military mental health initiatives. DECLARATION OF INTEREST: None. COPYRIGHT AND USAGE: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence.