The association of combat exposure and injuries with behavioral health problems among enlisted female Army members returning from Iraq or Afghanistan

Materials and methods Using longitudinal data from The Substance Use and Psychological Injury Combat Study, we selected a sample of enlisted female Army members returning from Afghanistan or Iraq in FY2008–2011, who completed a health questionnaire within 60 days of their deployment end date (N = 42397; 6.6% of cohort). Combat score was constructed as an ordinal variable (0–3) based on four items: being wounded, injured, assaulted, or hurt; encountering dead bodies/seeing people killed; firing a weapon; and being in danger of being killed. Multivariate logistic regression models examined how combat score, demographic, and deployment characteristics predicted posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and at-risk drinking. Models were stratified by component: Active Duty (AD) and National Guard/Reserves (NG/Rs).