• Magdalena Cerdá, Catherine Richards, Greg H Cohen, Joseph R Calabrese, Israel Liberzon, Marijo Tamburrino, Sandro Galea, and Karestan C Koenen.
• Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, New York. Electronic address: mc3226@columbia.edu.
• Am J Prev Med. 2014 Oct 1; 47 (4): 461466461-6.

BackgroundAlcohol use disorders are a serious public health concern among soldiers. Although deployment-related exposures have been linked with alcohol use disorders in soldiers, less is understood about the link between modifiable, civilian stressors and post-deployment alcohol use disorders.PurposeTo (1) compare the influence of civilian stressors and deployment-related traumatic events and stressors on post-deployment alcohol use disorders among Army National Guardsmen primarily deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq; and (2) evaluate whether civilian stressors influence a different set of alcohol use disorder phenotypes than deployment-related traumatic events and stressors.MethodsA cohort of Ohio National Guard soldiers was recruited in 2008-2009 and interviewed three times over 3 years. The analytic sample included Ohio National Guard soldiers who had been deployed by 2008-2009, had participated in at least one follow-up wave, had reported consuming at least one alcoholic drink in their lifetime, and had non-missing data on alcohol use disorders (n=1,095). Analyses were conducted in 2013.ResultsIn a model including measures of civilian stressors and deployment-related traumatic events, only civilian stressors (OR=2.07, 95% CI=1.46, 2.94) were associated with subsequent alcohol use disorder. The effects of civilian stressors were only present among people with no history of alcohol use disorder.ConclusionsIndependent of deployment-related exposures, post-deployment civilian stressors are associated with the onset of alcohol use disorder among reserve-component soldiers. Concerted investment to address daily civilian difficulties associated with reintegration into civilian life may be needed to prevent new cases of alcohol use disorders among returning military personnel.Copyright © 2014 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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