The Associations Between Moral Injury and Mental Health: 
Depression, Anxiety, and PTSD Severity in College Students & Combat Veterans

 

Jada M. Ray
Dr. Karen Vittengl, Faculty Mentor

Moral injury is a multidimensional construct involving perceived violation of deeply held moral beliefs, conscious recognition of the transgression, and persistent inability to reconcile the event within one’s moral framework, resulting in chronic psychological distress. In a sample of 122 college students, moral injury was significantly positively correlated with depressive symptoms (r = .22, p < .05) and PTSD symptoms (r = .34, p < .05), indicating clinically relevant associations beyond military populations.

 

Keywords: Moral Injury, Depression, Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Psychological distress, Non-combat populations, College students

Topic(s):Psychology

Presentation Type: Poster Presentation

Session: TBA
Location: TBA
Time: TBA