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The research article I chose was The American Veteran Experience and the Post 9/11 Generation which was a study conducted by Kim Parker, Ruth Igielnik, Amanda Barroso, and Anthony Cilluffo through the Pew Research Center. Kim Parker is the director of social trends research at Pew Research Center. She has expertise in demographics and social trends. The research article was posted on September 10th, 2019, and was conducted from May 14th to May 24th and May 14th to June 3rd of 2019, making the research present very current data.
The study was based on two surveys which were conducted online. The participants in one of the surveys included 1,284 U.S. military veterans—797 veterans who only served before 9/11 and 487 post-9/11 veterans who served after 9/11—whereas the second survey included 1,087 U.S. adults (Parker, Igielnik, Barroso, & Cilluffo, 2019). The data being collected was a series of questions regarding American veterans’ experiences and the differences between post-9/11 veterans and those before 9/11. Some examples of survey questions revolved around experiences with trauma or distress and whether the veteran had to seek emotional support (Parker et al., 2019). The study was a correlational study in which veterans were defined as both women and men not currently serving actively in the U.S. military but had done so prior (Parker et al., 2019).
There were multiple findings as a result of the study. One of the main findings was that post-9/11 veterans were more likely than pre-9/11 veterans to have been deployed and therefore more likely to have seen combat and thus more inclined to have faced emotional trauma (Parker et al., 2019). The study found that out of the pre-9/11 veterans, 58% were deployed at least once and 31% served in a combat zone; on the contrary, out of the post-9/11 veterans, 77% were deployed at least once and 58% served in a combat zone (Parker et al., 2019). Furthermore, another finding is that the majority of veterans believed that the training they received before active duty prepared them for military life yet fewer people said that the military prepared them for their transition into civilian life. In comparison, “post-9/11 veterans [were] more likely than pre-9/11 veterans to say readjusting to civilian life was difficult” (Parker et al., 2019). Another large finding was the difference between mental health impacts on pre-9/11 veterans and post-9/11 veterans. The study found that 42% of post-9/11 veterans said the deployment had adverse impacts on their mental health while only 17% of pre-9/11 veterans had the same consensus (Parker et al., 2019). Another finding from the study was that most veterans endorse joining the military, when asked if they would “advise a young person close to them to join the military,” 79% of veterans said yes whereas out of all adults, only 45% said yes (Parker et al., 2019).
Although the study provided multiple informative and important findings, I do believe that there were a few limitations to the study and variables that may have impacted the findings. One limitation I believe is the difference in mental health awareness and the changes regarding the stigmas associated with such over time. Mental illnesses have only become more openly spoken about in the past ten years or so and the acknowledgement of PTSD was not always widely known or accepted as a prominent aftermath of combat. As a result of this, older veterans may not talk about or even realize the impacts that war had on their mental health as it was not openly discussed or accepted in the past. Due to this, older veterans in the pre-9/11 group may have had problems related to mental health, but they just were not aware of it or do not speak of it so the questions relating to mental health and PTSD may not have completely accurate results.
The findings from the study The American Veteran Experience and the Post 9/11 Generation are crucial. For instance, the topic of the study and the research regarding veterans and the impact more recent wars are having on veterans in comparison to the past is crucial as wars have evolved over time and as have the social stigmas regarding war and mental health. Knowing that veterans are struggling with financial stability coming out of war is key information that the government must be aware of to help create better programs and more effective initiatives to aid veterans in their transition. Additionally, being aware that more soldiers are being deployed and in active combat should prompt an awareness that there are going to most likely be more veterans with traumatic experiences from high-intensity situations. Due to this, the government must provide these veterans with proper mental health care and educate both active members and veterans on the negative consequences of war such as PTSD, depression, anxiety, and more.
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