The risk of developing alcohol addiction – what coping strategies do Ukrainian military personnel use after participating in intense hostilities?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15584/ejcem.2024.3.1Keywords:
alcohol addiction, coping strategies, military personnelAbstract
Introduction and aim. Since February 24, 2022, military personnel of the Ukrainian Defense Forces have been resisting the military aggression of the Russian Federation. After participating in combat operations, military personnel accumulated combat stress. Drinking alcohol was one of the ways to overcome it. The purpose of the article is to identify the types of coping strategies for the risk of developing alcohol addiction among Ukrainian military personnel who participated in intense hostilities.
Material and methods. Ukrainian Defense Forces military personnel (n=162 males, between 20 and 60 years of age) took part in this study. To determine coping strategies and the risk of developing alcohol addiction the AUDIT and the COPE Inventory were used.
Results. Cluster analysis made it possible to identify 4 types of coping strategies with different prevalence and levels of risk of developing alcohol addiction among participants.
Conclusion. Productive coping has been associated with a reduced risk of alcohol use in military personnel, but the ability to be situational flexible in the use of coping is important. Compulsive alcohol use was preceded by a period of intensive use of social support coping by military personnel. This period is sensitive to the risk of developing alcohol addiction.
Downloads
References
Prykhodko I, Kolesnichenko O, Matsehora Y, et al. Effects of posttraumatic stress and combat losses on the combatants’ resilience. Cesk Psychol. 2022;66(2):157-169. doi: 10.51561/cspsych.66.2.157
Adler AB, Gutierrez IA. Preparing Soldiers to Manage Acute Stress in Combat: Acceptability, Knowledge and Attitudes. Psychiatry. 2022;85(1):30-37. doi: 10.1080/00332747.2021.2021598
Kokun O, Pischko I, Lozinska N. Military personnel’s stress reactivity during pre-deployment in a war zone. Psychol Health Med. 2022;1-12. doi: 10.1080/13548506.2022.2104882
Prykhodko I, Matsegora Y, Kolesnichenko O, et al. Psychological Markers of Suicides in Military Service During Wartime: A Contemporary Example. Int J Psychol Psychol Ther. 2021;21(1):45-57.
Prykhodko I, Matsehora Y, Kryvokon N, et al. Manifestations of post-traumatic stress in military personnel after participating in hostilities in the Russian-Ukrainian war. Eur J Clin Exp Med. 2023;21(4):776-784. doi: 10.15584/ejcem.2023.4.19
Shvets AV, Kalnysh VV, Marushchenko KY. Peculiarities of disadaptation characteristics in military personnel after being in a zone of armed conflict of different intensity. Ukr J Mil Med. 2023;4(3):38-48. doi: 10.46847/ujmm.2023.3(4)-038
Prykhodko II, Bielai SV, Hrynzovskyi AM, et al. Medical and psychological aspects of safety and adaptation of military personnel to extreme conditions. Wiad Lek. 2020;73(4):679-683.
Jones E, Fear NT. Alcohol use and misuse within the military: a review. Int Rev Psychiatry. 2011;23(2):166-172. doi: 10.3109/09540261.2010.550868
Prykhodko I, Matsehora Y, Kolesnichenko O, et al. Psychological First Aid for Military Personnel in Combat Operations: The Ukrainian Model. Mil Behav Heal. 2021;9(3):289-296. doi: 10.1080/21635781.2020.1864530
Larson MJ, Wooten NR, Adams RS, Merrick EL. Military Combat Deployments and Substance Use: Review and Future Directions. J Soc Work Pract Addict. 2012;12(1):6-27. doi: 10.1080/1533256X.2012.647586
Teeters JB, Lancaster CL, Brown DG, Back SE. Substance use disorders in military veterans: prevalence and treatment challenges. Subst Abuse Rehabil. 2017;8:69-77. doi: 10.2147/SAR.S116720
Witkiewitz K, Estrada AX. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Treatment in the Military: Lessons Learned and a Way Forward. Mil Psychol. 2011;23(1):112-123. doi: 10.1080/08995605.2011.548651
Brady LL, Credé M, Harms PD, Bachrach DG, Lester PB. Meta-analysis of risk factors for substance abuse in the US military. Mil Psychol. 2019;31(6):450-461. doi: 10.1080/08995605.2019.1657754
Merrill JE, Thomas SE. Interactions between adaptive coping and drinking to cope in predicting naturalistic drinking and drinking following a lab-based psychosocial stressor. Addict Behav. 2013;38(3):1672-1278. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2012.10.003
Prykhodko I, Matsehora Y, Bielai S, et al. Classification of coping strategies influencing mental health of military personnel having different combat experience. Georgian Med News. 2019;(297):130-135.
Frydenberg E, Lewis R. Teaching Coping to adolescents: when and to whom? Am Educ Res J. 2000;37:727-745.
Carver CS, Scheier MF, Weintraub JK. Assessing coping strategies: a theoretically based approach. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1989;56(2):267-283.
Bergen-Cico DK. War and Drugs: The Role of Military Conflict in the Development of Substance Abuse (1st ed.). Routledge; 2012. doi: 10.4324/9781315631226
Kamienski L. Shooting Up. A Short History of Drugs and War. Oxford University Press; 2016.
Kan PR. Drugs and Contemporary Warfare. Dulles, VA: Potomac Books; 2009.
Korsmeyer P, Kranzler HR. Encyclopedia of Drugs Alcohol & Addictive Behavior. 3rd ed. Macmillan Reference USA; 2009.
Besse K, Hunt S, Lenk KM. How soldiers perceive the drinking environment in communities near military installations. J Alcohol Drug Educ. 2018;62:71-90.
Fear NT, Jones M, Murphy D, et al. What are the consequences of deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan on the mental health of the UK armed forces? A cohort study. Lancet. 2010;375(9728):1783-1797. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60672-1
Vest BM, Homish DL, Fillo J, et al. Military status and alcohol problems: Former soldiers may be at greater risk. Addict Behav. 2018;84:139-143. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.04.011
Osborne AK, Wilson-Menzfeld G, McGill G, et al. Military service and alcohol use: a systematic narrative review. Occup Med (Lond). 2022;72(5):313-323. doi: 10.1093/occmed/kqac045
Wilk JE, Bliese PD, Kim PY, et al. Relationship of combat experiences to alcohol misuse among U.S. soldiers returning from the Iraq war. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2010;108(1-2):115-121. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2009.12.003
Dretsch MN, Neff D, Caserta R, et al. Rates of Behavioral Health Conditions and Health Risk Behaviors in Operators and Support Personnel in U.S. Special Operations Forces. Psychiatry. 2020;83(4):358-374. doi: 10.1080/00332747.2020.1768787
Russell DW, Russell CA, Riviere LA, et al. Changes in alcohol use after traumatic experiences: the impact of combat on Army National Guardsmen. Drug Alcohol Depend 2014;139:47-52.
Norman SB, Schmied E, Larson GE. Predictors of continued problem drinking and substance use following military discharge. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2014;75(4):557-566. doi: 10.15288/jsad.2014.75.557
Jakupcak M, Tull MT, McDermott MJ, et al. PTSD symptom clusters in relationship to alcohol misuse among Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans seeking post-deployment VA health care. Addict Behav. 2010;35(9):840-843. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2010.03.023
Capone C, McGrath AC, Reddy MK, et al. Trauma-related correlates of alcohol use in recently deployed OEF/OIF veterans. J Trauma Stress. 2013;26(3):354-360. doi: 10.1002/jts.21817
Wolkowicz NR, Peltier MR, Wemm S, et al. Subjective stress and alcohol use among young adult and adult drinkers: Systematic review of studies using Intensive Longitudinal Designs. Drug Alcohol Depend Rep. 2022;3:100039. doi: 10.1016/j.dadr.2022.100039
Baker TB, Piper ME, McCarthy DE, et al. Addiction motivation reformulated: an affective processing model of negative reinforcement. Psychol Rev. 2004;111(1):33-51. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.111.1.33
Cooper M, Kuntsche E, Levitt A, et al. Motivational models of substance use: A review of theory and research on motives for using alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco. In: Sher K., ed. The Oxford Handbook of Substance Use and Substance Use Disorders. Oxford University Press (OUP); 2016:375-421.
Koob GF. Drug Addiction: Hyperkatifeia/Negative Reinforcement as a Framework for Medications Development. Pharmacol Rev. 2021;73(1):163-201. doi: 10.1124/pharmrev.120.000083
Koob GF, Volkow ND. Neurobiology of addiction: a neurocircuitry analysis. Lancet Psychiatry. 2016;8:760-773. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(16)00104-8
Verheul R, van den Brink W, Geerlings P. A three-pathway psychobiological model of craving for alcohol. Alcohol Alcohol. 1999;34(2):197-222. doi: 10.1093/alcalc/34.2.197
Breslin F, Keeffe MO, Burrell L, et al. A comparison of 2 report formats for alcohol and caffeine use. Psychol Health. 1995;10(5):439-448.
Aldridge-Gerry AA, Roesch SC, Villodas F, et al. Daily stress and alcohol consumption: modeling between-person and within-person ethnic variation in coping behavior. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2011;72(1):125-134. doi: 10.15288/jsad.2011.72.125
Prykhodko I, Matsehora J, Lipatov I, et al. Servicemen’s Motivation in the National Guard of Ukraine: Transformation After the ‘Revolution of Dignity.’ J Slav Mil Stud. 2019;32(3):347-366. doi: 10.1080/13518046.2019.1645930
Prykhodko I, Matsehora Y, Kolesnichenko O, et al. The psychological recovery program of Ukrainian military personnel after completing combat missions in the Russian-Ukrainian war. Cesk Psychol. 2023;67(6):455-473. doi: 10.51561/cspsych.67.6.455
Saunders JB, Aasland OG, Babor TF, et al. Development of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): WHO Collaborative Project on Early Detection of Persons with Harmful Alcohol Consumption--II. Addiction. 1993;88(6):791-804. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1993.tb02093.x
Kovalenko YV. Adaptation and validation of the Ukrainian dispositional ‘cope’ questionnaire. Bull Alfred Nobel Univ Ser “Pedagogy Psychol.” 2019;2(18):75-84. doi: 10.32342/2522-4115-2019-2-18-9
Prykhodko I. The model of psychological safety of a soldier’s personality. Curr Issues Personal Psychol. 2021;10(2):112-122. doi: 10.5114/cipp.2021.108684
Gruenewald PJ. Regulating availability: how access to alcohol affects drinking and problems in youth and adults. Alcohol Res Health. 2011;34(2):248-256.
Irizar P, Leightley D, Stevelink S, et al. Drinking motivations in UK serving and ex-serving military personnel. Occup Med (Lond). 2020;70(4):259-267. doi: 10.1093/occmed/kqaa003
Cooper ML, Russell M, George WH. Coping, expectancies, and alcohol abuse: a test of social learning formulations. J Abnorm Psychol. 1988;97(2):218-230. doi: 10.1037//0021-843x.97.2.218
Willis A, Wallston K, Johnson K. Tobacco and alcohol use among young adults: Exploring religious faith, locus of health control, and coping strategies as predictors. In: Plante T, Sherman A, eds. Faith and Health: Psychological Perspectives. Guilford Press; 2001:213-239.
Britton PC. The relation of coping strategies to alcohol consumption and alcohol-related consequences in a college sample. Addict Res Theory. 2004;12(2):103-114. doi: 10.1080/16066350310001613062
McKee SA, Hinson RE, Wall AM, et al. Alcohol outcome expectancies and coping styles as predictors of alcohol use in young adults. Addict Behav. 1998;23(1):17-22. doi: 10.1016/s0306-4603(97)00008-7
Trautmann S, Schönfeld S, Behrendt S, et al. Predictors of changes in daily alcohol consumption in the aftermath of military deployment. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2015;147:175-182. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.11.019
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 European Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Our open access policy is in accordance with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition: this means that articles have free availability on the public Internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from having access to the Internet itself.
All articles are published with free open access under the CC-BY Creative Commons attribution license (the current version is CC-BY, version 4.0). If you submit your paper for publication by the Eur J Clin Exp Med, you agree to have the CC-BY license applied to your work. Under this Open Access license, you, as the author, agree that anyone may download and read the paper for free. In addition, the article may be reused and quoted provided that the original published version is cited. This facilitates freedom in re-use and also ensures that Eur J Clin Exp Med content can be mined without barriers for the research needs.
