Introduction
This proposal paper presents information about a study aimed at addressing the prevalence of mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among military veterans. The research will analyze whether the incidence of symptoms and their link to individuals’ experiences relate to their military service. The paper includes information on population and sampling, instrumentation, procedures, and the type of analysis that is featured in the study.
Population and Sampling
The population that will be studied is US military veterans regardless of whether or not they have sought treatment for depression, anxiety, or PTSD. The age of participants will be 35 to 54 years old and both male and female veterans will be evaluated. The education level will be considered as well. The quota sampling method will be utilized to collect the research data. The rationale for choosing such a sampling method is that it is the most appropriate approach to study particular groups of the population (Sharma, 2017). The key inclusion criteria are age (35 – 54 years old) and is a veteran. Those who are more than 54 years of age or are current service members will be excluded from the sample. Control groups will be comprised of individuals of the same age as veterans.
Screening of participants will include asking them about their social and cultural background, as these factors may have an impact on their symptoms, as well as their experience serving in the military. During the briefing, individuals will be informed about the purpose of the study, the type of information that will be collected, and the issues that will be analyzed. The setting for the research will be a local academic hospital. In addition, informed consent will be obtained to ensure that participants agree that the information about their conditions can be disclosed. No specific data, such as names, will be provided.
Instrumentation
The assessment instrument will be the Life Events Checklist for DSM-5. Test-retest reliability will be used to determine the stability of the outcomes over time. The numerical numbers >60 will be considered as reliable scores, 40-60 for relatively reliable, and <40 for non-reliable scores. External validity will be established for this instrument as well. Reliability in numerical numbers is non-applicable. The use of this instrument is supported in the peer-reviewed literature; for example, studies by Blevins, Weathers, Davis, Witte, and Domino (2015) and Wortmann et al. (2016) both show that the use of the Life Events Checklist is effective for studying psychological conditions in veterans and military service members. The rationale for the selection of this instrument is that it allows for an extended analysis of the background of mental health conditions among veterans and the identification of possible index events (Wortmann et al., 2016).
Sample questions of the Life Events Checklist include: ‘Have you experienced, witnessed, or learned about life-threatening illness or injury?’ and ‘How many times altogether have you experienced a similar event as stressful or nearly as stressful as the worst event?’ (Weathers et al., 2018). The Life Events Checklist allows for the collection of nominal data. This assessment instrument is consistent with the analyzed variables because it is designed to identify the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD, as well as to outline their possible connection with veterans’ experiences during active service.
Procedures
The name of the study is Prevalence of Depression, PTSD, and Anxiety among American Veterans and Their Relation to Military Service. The selected design is longitudinal. Ramchand, Rudavsky, Grant, Tanielian, and Jaycox (2015) studied the prevalence of mental health problems in military populations, and the present study replicates this design as the method shows a high level of effectiveness. Treatment protocols are inapplicable as treatments will not be involved. The measured variables will include the prevalence of symptoms of PTSD, depression, and anxiety. The data will be collected between September 2019 and December 2020. A control group will be used and individuals that have not served in the military will be included in it. This control measure will prevent threats to external validity as it can ensure that the prevalence of symptoms is associated with military service and allow for a higher generalizability rate.
Analysis
The study will measure interval data and the chi-square test of independence analysis will be used. The rationale for using this statistical test is that it allows for understanding the relationship between several variables; for instance, between the experience of military service and the presence of mental disorders (Zhou & Krott, 2016). The study hypothesizes that depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms are more prevalent in veterans than in other groups of the population. The results of the analysis using the chi-square test will be utilized to determine whether this hypothesis is correct and can be supported by evidence.
Conclusion
The proposed study will investigate the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms among American veterans. The research will compare the data collected from veterans to information obtained from individuals with no experience in military service. The study will have a longitudinal design and utilize the Life Events Checklist. The hypothesis of the study suggests that mental health conditions are more present in veterans than in other groups of the population. The chi-square test of independence analysis will be utilized to determine the reliability of this hypothesis.
References
- Blevins, C. A., Weathers, F. W., Davis, M. T., Witte, T. K., & Domino, J. L. (2015). The posttraumatic stress disorder checklist for DSM‐5 (PCL‐5): Development and initial psychometric evaluation. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 28(6), 489-498.
- Ramchand, R., Rudavsky, R., Grant, S., Tanielian, T., & Jaycox, L. (2015). Prevalence of, risk factors for, and consequences of posttraumatic stress disorder and other mental health problems in military populations deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Current Psychiatry Reports, 17(37).
- Sharma, G. (2017). Pros and cons of different sampling techniques. International Journal of Applied Research, 3(7), 749-752.
- Weathers, F. W., Blake, D. D., Schnurr, P. P., Kaloupek, D. G., Marx, B. P., & Keane, T. M. (2018). The Life Events Checklist for DSM-5 (LEC-5) – Extended.
- Wortmann, J. H., Jordan, A. H., Weathers, F. W., Resick, P. A., Dondanville, K. A., Hall-Clark, B.,… Mintz, J. (2016). Psychometric analysis of the PTSD Checklist-5 (PCL-5) among treatment-seeking military service members. Psychological Assessment, 28(11), 1392-1403.
- Zhou, B., & Krott, A. (2016). Data trimming procedure can eliminate bilingual cognitive advantage. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 23(4), 1221-1230.