Authored by James Abel*
Introduction
Globally, there has been a growing interest and concerns among military authorities and researchers in understanding association between military deployment and its association with subsequent psychological adjustment [1,2]. In Nigeria, for instance, research evidence suggests that a significant number of military personnel experience severe psychological problems after deployment [3,4]. However, most current knowledge of the postwar military adjustment process is has focused exclusively on psychological effects, particularly on the development of posttraumatic stress disorder [3,4].Interestingly, research evidence suggests that apart from the usual distress experience by combatants, returnee military personnel experience several changes that impede adjustment and successful societal integration [5]. Post-deployment adjustment involves successful adaptation and positive functioning in meeting challenges and responding to changes in a social environment and workplace after homecoming [6]. This includes readjustment to personal, family, work life after long period of stay in a seemingly hostile combat environment. In a normal military and societal setting where military personnel has not experienced war, he may have more time and robust interaction with his family and work, experience less anxiety and physical health concerns and be more responsive to changes in his social environment and work setting. However, after a long detachment from the society and attachment to unpleasant and unique war environment, soldiers orientation may change, and as a result, recently returned members may feel isolated or disconnected from the rest of the world thus making adjustment difficult and societal reintegration difficult [5].Globally, there has been a growing interest and concerns among military authorities and researchers in understanding association between military deployment and its association with subsequent psychological adjustment [1,2]. In Nigeria, for instance, research evidence suggests that a significant number of military personnel experience severe psychological problems after deployment [3,4]. However, most current knowledge of the postwar military adjustment process is has focused exclusively on psychological effects, particularly on the development of posttraumatic stress disorder [3,4].Interestingly, research evidence suggests that apart from the usual distress experience by combatants, returnee military personnel experience several changes that impede adjustment and successful societal integration [5]. Post-deployment adjustment involves successful adaptation and positive functioning in meeting challenges and responding to changes in a social environment and workplace after homecoming [6]. This includes readjustment to personal, family, work life after long period of stay in a seemingly hostile combat environment. In a normal military and societal setting where military personnel has not experienced war, he may have more time and robust interaction with his family and work, experience less anxiety and physical health concerns and be more responsive to changes in his social environment and work setting. However, after a long detachment from the society and attachment to unpleasant and unique war environment, soldiers orientation may change, and as a result, recently returned members may feel isolated or disconnected from the rest of the world thus making adjustment difficult and societal reintegration difficult [5]. personnel who experience adjustment problems have been found to show greater feelings of obligation (as opposed to desire) to remain in the military, higher levels of negative job-related affect (particularly in the work domain), and greater intentions to leave the military [9].This suggests that for military personnel to perform optimally in the work-place and enjoy a robust social wellbeing after deployment, they have to adjust and be integrated fully into the society. Thus, identifying what enhance post-deployment adjustment is key for promoting reintegration and operational efficiency of military returnees from combat operations.
Interestingly, previous research have demonstrated that the support of family, friends and community members has a significant restorative role in the adaptation of military combatants [10]. [11] reported that military veterans with long-term adjustment problems are those who experience additional stress, high combat events and poor social support network. Moreover, Thompson and Gignac 2002 reported that if military members return to a unit where other members did not deploy, they may face a lack of support from their colleagues .This suggests that many returnees from the insurgency operation may be experiencing lack of social support from colleagues, especially that not every one of them was deployed. According to [4] many military personnel who have returned from the north-east have vehemently complained about lack of support and have also shown unusual aggression and cynicism, indulged in use of harmful drugs and have become a problem in their respective barracks. This suggest that, many of these personnel (with reported lack of support) may be experiencing adjustment problems, yet, little is known about the role that social support play in enhancing successful adjustment in this population. Furthermore, previous understanding on the problem of military adjustment comes from foreign studies, most of whom are conducted many years after homecoming [12]. This may make the problem unattended to for long, bringing imminent consequences on the health and inability to effectively handle prevailing situations. Short-term post-deployment adjustment is important because those who have returned needs to adapt swiftly and attend to other increasing security challenges facing the nation. Thus, short-term adaptation is crucial not just for the psychosocial wellbeing but also for its ability to guarantee rapid operational efficiency of military personnel in emerging security challenges. Incidentally, domestic studies implicate poor post-deployment social support to psychological distress among Nigerian security personnel [13]. This also suggests that inadequate social support to the returnee veterans may play a major role in their adjustment process.
During the Boko-Haram operation, military personnel were faced with devastating situations ranging from killings, witnessing death of colleagues, exposure to improvised explosives [4]. These events are extraordinary because they may overwhelm the ordinary human adaptations to life and produce profound and lasting changes in physiological arousal, emotion, cognition that may affect social life and occupational functioning. In addition, given their intense nature, traumatic experiences can alter individuals’ psychological, biological, and social equilibrium making adaptation difficult [14]. However, published researches have focused majorly on how exposure to these experiences has affected the physical and psychological health symptoms [13]. There have been little research examining the impact of psychological factors, particularly, on the role post-deployment that post-deployment social support play in military personnel’s adjustment to major areas of family work and the society. Given the deleterious effects that poor adjustment portends for the military personnel, their families and the general security of the country, and existing paucity of research especially in Nigeria where there is high number of military returnees in recent times, this paper empirically examined
1. The relationship between combat exposure, postdeployment social support and post-deployment adjustment among military returnees from Boko-Haram insurgency
2. whether combat exposure and post-deployment social support will have a significant joint influence on shortterm (6-12-months) adjustment among military personnel who had returned from the insurgency operation
3. We hypothesized that military personnel who experienced combat events but reported higher levels of post-deployment social support would experience better adaptation within one year of homecoming.
Method
Participants
Participants in this study represented a sample of the active duty military service personnel who had returned from the Boko-Haram operation in the north-east. A total of 322 military personnel were purposively sampled in a cross-sectional survey at six different military locations within Bauchi, Gombe and Plateau states. Demographic information revealed that 88(27.3%) were single, 226(70.2%) married while 8(2.5%) were divorced. Analysis on participants’ rank revealed that 70(21.7%) were private, 46(14.3%) Lance corporal, 92 (28.6%) corporal, 72 (22.4%) sergeant, 10(3.1%) staff sergeant 32(9.9%) belong to the other ranks. Concerning location of deployment, a total of 98(30.4%) were deployed to Bornu, 200(62.1%) went to Yobe, while 25(7.5%) went to other locations. Participants’ length of deployment ranged between 1 to 3 years and all of the participants have been deployed for more than two times for the operation.Measurement
Demographic variables
Participants demographic data were obtained using a section of the questionnaire which requested information on age, rank, marital status, location of deployment, number of deployments and cumulative duration that each participant spend in the deployment.Combat exposure
Combat exposure was measured using 7-item self-report combat exposure scale [15]. This a widely used measure that assess combat exposure specifically among military and paramilitary personnel. The scale was designed to measure all forms of combat situations such as wars, peacekeeping operations and terrorism. Items are rated on a 5-point frequency (1= no or never to 5= more than twelve times a week). Scores above the mean (Mean=18.39) indicates high combat exposure while scores below it indicates low combat exposure. The scale has been widely used among military veterans and found to be a sound psychometric measure with Cronbach alpha of .80 reported (Keane, Caddell, & Taylor, 1988). In Nigerian military population, the scale has been used and found to be good measure of combat exposure [4].Post-deployment social support
Post-deployment social support was measured using the postdeployment social support scale [16], which is a 10-item selfreport measure that assess the level of emotional and instrumental assistance provided to a combatant by his family, friends and significant others upon returning from combat operations. Respondents indicated how much they agreed or disagreed with a set of statements related to social support after deployment. Items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale with responses that ranged from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Respondents were asked to “Please decide how much you agree or disagree with each statement and circle the number that best fits your choice. Sample questions include; “My family and friends understand what I went through in the Armed Forces”, “My family members or friends would lend me money if I needed it”. High scores indicate high social support while scores below the mean was used to infer low social support. Internal consistency as reported by the authors is 74 [16].Post-deployment adjustment
Post-deployment adjustment was assessed using the Postdeployment Readjustment Inventory [17]. This is a 36-item selfreport measure on which respondents rated their agreement with how true they were able to adjust in four major domains of functioning since returning from deployment. These areas include adjustment to personal life (i.e., feeling like oneself again), family (i.e., feeling like a member of the family again), work (i.e., adjusting back to normal military work life), and cultural or social adjustment. All the items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1= not at all to 5 = completely. Participants were required to rate how true each of the items was related to them since their return from the operation. All items were scored and summed for a total score that could range from 36 to 180 with higher scores indicating greater or better postdeployment adjustment/ reintegration. The instrument has been widely used among military population and found to have very sound psychometric properties with cronbach alphas for the whole items (domains) ranging between .78 to .89, suggesting that, in line with past findings, moderate to high internal consistency of the scores (Blaise, Thompson & McCreary,2006).Covariates
The covariates that were measured were selected because they represent factors that from a military standpoint were likely to be an added source of poor adjustment or have the potential to affect adjustment of military personnel in the society. These covariates included number of deployments and the cumulative length of deployment experienced by each veteran.Procedure
After obtaining approval from the relevant military authorities, the researchers approached the participants in their respective locations for screening interview. One of the researchers, a military officer, who actively participated in the insurgency operation, conducted the recruitment and screening exercise. The exercise took place six different military units that cut across Bauchi, Gombe and Plateau states and included only members who returned between six months and one year period. The reason for choosing military barracks within these states was due to the fact that a sizeable number of returnees resides within these zones for emergency purposes. All service members who met inclusion criteria were provided with a participant information sheet that contained a written description of the study including the study purpose, procedures, duration, risks, benefits, and the right to withdraw at any time without penalty. Participants who read and indicated interest were provided with a standardized questionnaire to fill under a conducive atmosphere.In all, three hundred and twenty-two (322) respondents were purposively sampled across the six barracks. The reason for using purposive sampling was because the study specifically targeted only military personnel who actively participated in the counter insurgency operation and met other inclusion criteria. Also, due to the security situation in the country at the time of conducting this study and the nature of military job, the use of a randomized technique was practically impossible. Out of the four hundred questionnaires administered, only three hundred and twentytwo were properly filled. Questionnaires not properly filled were discarded. The study spans for about two weeks after which completed questionnaires were retrieved and subjected to data analysis.
The Pearson r correlation statistics was used to establish the relationships between study variables. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS-20) was used to analyse data. Particularly, Hierarchical multiple regression statistics was used to test for the independent role of combat exposure and social support on postdeployment adjustment. The moderating effect of social support in the relationship between combat exposure and adjustment was also tested with hierarchical regression analysis.
Ethical consideration
The study was approved by the Nigerian military authorities in the various locations sampled. Also, through the information provided on the questionnaire, respondents were informed that participation was voluntary and that the data obtained would be treated with absolute confidentiality. Participants were duly consented and briefed about the study before given questionnaires to fill. To ensure confidentiality and anonymity, all the questionnaire copies administered were coded without any form of identification. Only relevant information were collected so as to avoid unnecessary invasion of their privacy. Participants were not subjected to any form of physical or psychological harm throughout the study period.
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