Psychological Adjustment after Combat Deployment: Decompression at Home Versus at Sea

The present quasi-experimental study examined the psychological health of one group of U.S. Marines returning home by 12-day sea voyage to another comparable group returning within 24 hr by air following a 6-month combat deployment to Iraq. Few significant group differences were seen in the 11 assessed self-report outcomes at 3 (n = 631) or at 6 months postdeployment (n = 437). The few significant differences were largely small and somewhat inconsistent. For example, the prevalence of PTSD in Marines returning by sea was higher at 3 months (13% vs 7%) but lower at 6 months (12% vs. 18%), though only the former difference was statistically significant. We conclude that decompression done at sea or at home after return by air have ultimately similar enough outcomes that either approach is appropriate. Future research is needed to explore the potential for time-dependent impacts of various approaches to decompression and to possible heterogeneity of affects across relevant outcomes.