Combat Readiness, Alcohol abuse, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder among Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces soldiers

Abstract

The study examined the relationship between combat readiness, alcohol abuse and PTSD among UPDF soldiers returning from Operation Lightening Thunder (OLT). The study used a cross-sectional study design (using quantitative and correlational methods). Using Krejcie and Morgan Table (2012), a sample size of 150 was considered, specifically soldiers of who had recently withdrawn from OLT and were based in Singo Peace Support Operation (PSO) School. Combat readiness was measured using Perceived Combat Readiness Questionnaire (PCRQ), Alcohol Abuse was measured using Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT), and PTSD was measured using PTSD checklist military version (PCL-M). Results were analyzed using IBM SPSS statistics version 22.0 (Armonk, NY; IBM Corp., 2013). Results showed that there was a significant relationship among combat readiness, alcohol abuse and PTSD (0.01). They also showed significant relationship between combat readiness and PTSD (0.01). Further, results showed significant relationship between combat readiness and alcohol abuse (0.01). Also, there was a significant relationship between alcohol abuse and PTSD (0.01). It was concluded that; the positive mediation effect of alcohol abuse implies that it increases PTSD. However, it was noted that alcohol abuse had a partial mediation. The study recommended an adaptation of a physio-psycho model of training in all UPDF training school. Soldiers should not only be trained physically, but also mentally and should be equipped with skills of identifying and dealing with war related stress and trauma.