TY - JOUR
T1 - The underlying mechanisms by which Post-Traumatic Growth is associated with cardiovascular health in male UK military personnel
T2 - The ADVANCE cohort study
AU - Dyball, Daniel
AU - Bennett, Alexander N.
AU - Schofield, Susie
AU - Cullinan, Paul
AU - Boos, Christopher J.
AU - Bull, Anthony M.J.
AU - Stevelink, Sharon A.M.
AU - Fear, Nicola T.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: S Stevelink is part funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King\u2019s College London, and the NIHR (ref: NIHR300592). N Fear is part funded by a grant from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and is a trustee of a charity supporting the health and wellbeing of service personnel, veterans and their families. A Bennett is a serving member of the Royal Air Force. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, MoD or the Department of Health and Social Care.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.
PY - 2024/4/11
Y1 - 2024/4/11
N2 - Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG) is associated with good cardiovascular health, but the mechanisms of this are poorly understood. This cross-sectional analysis assessed whether factors of PTG (Appreciation of Life (AOL), New Possibilities (NP), Personal Strength (PS), Relating to Others (RTO) and Spiritual Change (SC)) are associated with cardiovascular health in a cohort of 1006 male UK military personnel (median age 34). The findings suggest AOL, PS and RTO are associated with better cardiovascular health through cardiometabolic effects (lower levels of triglycerides, and total cholesterol) and haemodynamic functioning (lower diastolic blood pressure), but not inflammation. However, NP and SC were associated with poorer cardiovascular health through cardiometabolic effects (lower levels of high-density lipoproteins and higher levels of total cholesterol) and AOL had a non-linear association with low-density lipoproteins. These findings suggest that the relationship between PTG and cardiovascular functioning is complex and in need of further scrutiny.
AB - Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG) is associated with good cardiovascular health, but the mechanisms of this are poorly understood. This cross-sectional analysis assessed whether factors of PTG (Appreciation of Life (AOL), New Possibilities (NP), Personal Strength (PS), Relating to Others (RTO) and Spiritual Change (SC)) are associated with cardiovascular health in a cohort of 1006 male UK military personnel (median age 34). The findings suggest AOL, PS and RTO are associated with better cardiovascular health through cardiometabolic effects (lower levels of triglycerides, and total cholesterol) and haemodynamic functioning (lower diastolic blood pressure), but not inflammation. However, NP and SC were associated with poorer cardiovascular health through cardiometabolic effects (lower levels of high-density lipoproteins and higher levels of total cholesterol) and AOL had a non-linear association with low-density lipoproteins. These findings suggest that the relationship between PTG and cardiovascular functioning is complex and in need of further scrutiny.
KW - ADVANCE cohort study
KW - Afghanistan
KW - heart disease risk factors
KW - military personnel
KW - posttraumatic growth
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85190459204&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/13591053241240196
DO - 10.1177/13591053241240196
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85190459204
SN - 1359-1053
JO - Journal of Health Psychology
JF - Journal of Health Psychology
M1 - https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053241240196
ER -
