Does war moderate the association between mental wellbeing and its predictors among children? A multi-country cross-sectional study

Background
This study explores how war or conflict influences the established predictors of mental well-being among children, addressing a significant gap in current research.

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Combat Veterans’ Experiences of Moral Injury, Cannabis Use Disorder and the Process of Meaning-Making : A Mixed Methods Study

Combat veterans are highly inclined to develop substance use disorders, including Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD), with emerging evidence suggesting that combat related Potentially Morally Injurious Events (PMIEs) may increase proneness to CUD. To explore the moderating role of time since release from military duty, mixed methodology was applied. In a quantitative study, 322 Israeli cannabis-using male combat veterans filled out validated self-report questionnaires assessing PMIEs, CUD and time since release from military duty.

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Engaging in moral learning : veterans’ perspectives on how the moral dimensions of moral injury are addressed in one-on-one meetings with Dutch military chaplains

Introduction: There is an increasing attention for the role of military chaplains (MCs) in supporting veterans with moral injury. However, research into how veterans experience the support of MCs remains scarce. Moreover, no studies to date have explored this question in a Dutch contex, while this is relevant as it can offer insight into what forms of care are helpful in predominantly secular societies.

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Killing in Combat as a Potentially Morally Injurious Event : The Diverging Psychological Impact of Killing on Peacekeepers and Combat-Oriented Troops

The impact of killing in combat (KIC) on veterans’ long-term psychological health is multifaceted and influenced by deployment contexts. This study compared two samples of Norwegian veterans from combat-oriented (Afghanistan 2001–2011, N = 4,053) and peacekeeping (Lebanon 1978–1998, N = 10,605) missions to examine how personal threats, witnessing death/injury, and KIC uniquely predicted long-term mental health, alcohol use, and quality of life (QoL). In the combat-oriented sample, personal threats and witnessing death/injury predicted negative outcomes, while KIC did not.

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Spirituality and PTSD Outcomes Among Service Members and Military Veterans

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent and debilitating condition among military service members and veterans, often co-occurring with moral injury (MI) and spiritual distress (SD). While conventional PTSD treatments include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure-based therapies, and pharmacological interventions, growing evidence suggests that spirituality may play a vital role in improving PTSD outcomes.

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‘Drones for good’ : innovation, meaning and remoteness in the Dutch police drone team

This paper presents an ethnographic study of drone policing, demonstrating how the implementation of drones transforms not only everyday practices and tasks but also officers’ experiences and moral values in their work. While drones are often examined within military contexts, their application in domestic law enforcement is growing. Military studies focus on the concept of remoteness, discussing how operators manage distance-intimacy relations, with reduced physical risk but increased moral-psychological harm for operators due to detailed real-time imagery.

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Moral trauma, moral distress, moral injury, and moral injury disorder : definitions and assessments

We propose new definitions for moral injury and moral distress, encompassing many prior definitions, but broadening moral injury to more general classes of victims, in addition to perpetrators and witnesses, and broadening moral distress to include settings not involving institutional constraints. We relate these notions of moral distress and moral injury to each other, and locate them on a “moral trauma spectrum” that includes considerations of both persistence and severity.

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Moral courage, injury, and leadership in military contexts : lessons from a thematic analysis of conversations among international experts and students

Introduction

Recent global events have underscored the importance of moral leadership and courage. A series of moderated conversations about moral leadership and dilemmas during times of conflict and crisis were facilitated in 2021 with Lieutenant-General (ret’d) The Honourable Romeo Dallaire, military and global affairs experts and international scholars from North America, Europe, Australia and the global south, together with students from the Netherlands and Canada.

 

Objective

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Proposing the Integrated Pathway Model of Moral Injury (IPM-MI) : A Moderated Mediation Analysis of Moral Injury Among Secure Mental Healthcare Staff

Moral injury is a prevalent issue for secure mental healthcare staff, though understanding of the underlying mechanisms is limited. This multi-study paper explores several developmental, cognitive and emotional pathways to moral injury and associated wellbeing outcomes. Frontline and support staff from secure mental healthcare services were recruited to two cross-sectional studies (n = 527 and n = 325, respectively), and completed several questionnaires.

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Patterns of mental health problems and resilience among immigrant and refugee adolescents : a latent profile analysis

Background: Immigrant and refugee adolescents often face traumatic experiences and are vulnerable to mental health problems, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression. Yet, they also show remarkable resilience in the face of these stressors. Research is still scarce on how both mental health problems and resilience dynamically interplay in immigrant and refugee adolescents’ development.

 

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