How Does Anger Change During and After Combat Deployment?

What you need to know

• Anger levels tend to increase overall from pre-deployment to 9 months post-deployment in combat-deployed soldiers
• First-time deployers show the largest increases in anger over time
• Soldiers with multiple prior deployments report the highest anger levels overall, which remain relatively stable
• Higher pre-deployment resilience is linked to lower anger overall, but this protective effect diminishes over time

Understanding anger in combat-deployed soldiers

Anger problems are common among military service members who have been deployed to combat zones. These issues can lead to serious consequences like relationship difficulties, workplace aggression, and mental health problems. However, we don’t know much about how anger changes over the course of a combat deployment or what factors influence these changes.

To address this gap, researchers conducted a study of over 7,000 US Army soldiers who deployed to Afghanistan in 2012. They measured the soldiers’ anger levels at four time points: 1-2 months before deployment, and then at 1 month, 3 months, and 9 months after returning from deployment. The study looked at how anger changed over time and examined whether factors like prior deployment experience and perceived resilience affected these changes.

How anger changes during and after deployment

On average, the study found that anger levels increased slightly from pre-deployment to 9 months post-deployment. However, this overall trend doesn’t tell the whole story. There was significant variation in how individual soldiers’ anger changed over time.

The researchers identified several patterns in how anger changed:

1. First-time deployers started with the lowest anger levels but showed the biggest increases over time.
2. Soldiers who had deployed multiple times before reported the highest anger levels overall, which stayed relatively stable.
3. Soldiers on their second deployment fell somewhere in between, with moderate increases in anger.

These findings suggest that the experience of anger during and after deployment is different depending on a soldier’s prior combat experience.

The role of resilience

The study also looked at whether soldiers’ perceived resilience before deployment affected their anger trajectories. Resilience refers to a person’s ability to cope with stress and bounce back from difficult experiences.

The researchers found that higher pre-deployment resilience was associated with lower anger levels overall. However, this protective effect diminished over time. Soldiers who reported high resilience before deployment started with low anger levels, but their anger increased more over time compared to those with low initial resilience.

This finding highlights that even soldiers who feel highly resilient before deployment may still experience increases in anger and could benefit from ongoing support.

Why do these patterns occur?

The researchers proposed several explanations for the different anger trajectories they observed:

1. First-time deployers may experience the biggest increases in anger because they are encountering the stresses of combat for the first time and learning to cope with them.

2. Soldiers with multiple prior deployments may have higher overall anger due to cumulative stress from repeated deployments. Their anger levels may remain stable because they have developed ways to manage their emotions during deployment, or because they have become somewhat desensitized to deployment stressors.

3. The diminishing protective effect of pre-deployment resilience could occur because the initial benefits of feeling resilient wear off as the deployment experience becomes more distant. Alternatively, overestimating one’s resilience before deployment could lead to increased frustration and anger when coping becomes more difficult than anticipated.

Implications for military mental health

These findings have important implications for how the military might approach anger management and mental health support for deployed soldiers:

1. Screening and intervention timing: The military may need to tailor when they screen for and address anger problems based on a soldier’s deployment history. For example, first-time deployers might benefit most from interventions during or shortly after deployment, when their anger is likely to be increasing. Repeat deployers may need support before deployment, when their anger levels are already elevated.

2. Ongoing support: Even soldiers who report high resilience before deployment may need ongoing screening and support, as their risk for developing anger problems increases over time.

3. Tailored approaches: Anger management programs may need to be adapted for first-time versus repeat deployers, given their different anger trajectories and potentially different needs.

4. Education: Providing education about anger as a common reaction to deployment stress could help soldiers recognize problematic anger and seek help when needed.

Conclusions

• Anger trajectories during and after combat deployment vary based on factors like prior deployment experience and perceived resilience.
• First-time deployers and those with high pre-deployment resilience may be at greater risk for developing anger problems than initially expected.
• Ongoing screening and support for anger management is important for all combat-deployed soldiers, regardless of their prior experience or perceived resilience.
• More research is needed to develop effective interventions for preventing and addressing problematic anger in military populations.

This study provides valuable insights into how anger changes over the course of combat deployment and highlights the complexity of this issue. By understanding these patterns, military leaders and mental health professionals can better support soldiers’ emotional well-being and prevent the negative consequences of problematic anger.