An examination of successful Soldier post-deployment transition from combat to home

The Department of Defense and US Army have implemented several screening and intervention programs to identify and prevent behavioral health (BH) concerns among deployed Soldiers. These programs aim to facilitate a successful transition from combat to garrison life while expeditiously returning Soldiers to mission focus. Although many programs focus on an individual's existing problems, previous studies have shown social support (e.g., family, friends, battle-buddies, leadership) to be protective against the development of negative BH outcomes. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the relationship between perceived social support and transition from combat to home life among 2,922 recently deployed Soldiers. Findings indicate a lack of perceived social support was strongly associated with a negative transition to home, after adjusting for selected BH and demographic information. Although Soldiers reporting previous BH encounters and/or screening positive for alcohol misuse were also significantly more likely to report a negative transition from combat to home, social support exhibited a unique contribution to the success of transition back to garrison life. Further, Soldiers reporting negative transitions from combat to home were significantly more likely to report they would not speak to a fellow Soldier, mentor or leader in their unit if confronted with a personal problem than Soldiers' reporting a positive post-deployment transition from combat to home. This study increases awareness of the need to evaluate and promote social support among Soldiers returning from combat deployments.