The study, published in the August 13 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests that lack of preparation for dealing with the stress of combat and reduced access to support services at home is to be blamed for alcohol abuse among soldiers. There was also increased stress among individuals and their families who were deployed, according to the report.
The study's authors, who represent various branches of the U.S. military including the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego, found that veterans coming home from combat were 63 percent more likely to report new-onset heavy drinking than their non-deployed counterparts.
Younger soldiers born after 1980 who saw combat were at greater risk of alcohol abuse and were 6.7 times more likely to start binge drinking and 4.7 times more likely to report new alcohol related problems than soldiers who weren't deployed in the region, the authors said.
Deployed women soldiers were also more likely to start drinking heavily than those who weren't deployed. However they were less likely to report alcohol problems or binge drinking, according to the study.
Researchers surveyed 48,481 soldiers, of whom 5,510 had combat exposure, 5,661 were deployed without seeing combat, and 37,310 weren't sent to the region.
