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Evaluation of the critical warzone experiences scale among Gulf War I-era veterans
Associations with PTSD symptoms, depressive symptoms, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors
Kimbrel, N. A., Blakey, S., Miller, D. R., Patel, T. A., Mann, A. J. D., Pugh, M. J., Beckham, J. C., & Calhoun, P. S. (2024). Evaluation of the critical warzone experiences scale among Gulf War I-era veterans: Associations with PTSD symptoms, depressive symptoms, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Military Psychology, 1-9. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/08995605.2024.2357993
Prior research has established the psychometric properties of the Critical Warzone Experiences (CWE) scale among post-9/11 Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans; however, the psychometric properties of the CWE among Gulf War I-era veterans have not yet been established. The first objective of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the CWE among Gulf War I-era veterans. The second objective was to test the hypothesis that the CWE would have a significant indirect effect on suicidal thoughts and behaviors via posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms. To test these hypotheses, a survey packet that included the CWE and measures of PTSD symptoms, depressive symptoms, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors was administered to 1,153 Gulf War I-era veterans. Consistent with prior research in post-9/11 Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans, the CWE exhibited good internal consistency (alpha = .85), a unidimensional factor structure (RMSEA = .056, CFI = .959, SRMR = .033; average factor loading = .69), and good concurrent validity with PTSD (r = .47, p < .001) and depressive (r = .31, p < .001) symptoms among Gulf War I-era veterans. Additionally, as hypothesized, a significant indirect effect from the CWE to suicidal thoughts and behaviors via PTSD and depressive symptoms (beta = .35, p < .001) was also observed. Taken together, our findings provide strong support for using the CWE with Gulf War I-era veterans.
