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Research suggests that community reintegration (CR) after injury and rehabilitation is difficult for many servicemembers. However, little is known about the influence of the contextual factors, both personal and environmental, on CR. Framed within the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health and social cognitive theory, the quantitative portion of a larger mixed-methods study of 51 injured, community-dwelling servicemembers compared the relative contribution of contextual factors between groups of servicemembers with different levels of CR. Cluster analysis indicated three groups of servicemembers showing low, moderate, and high levels of CR. Statistical analyses identified contextual factors that significantly discriminated between CR clusters. Multivariate analysis of variance and discriminant analysis indicated significant contributions of general selfefficacy, services and assistance barriers, physical and structural barriers, attitudes and support barriers, perceived level of disability and/or handicap, work and school barriers, and policy barriers to CR scores. Overall, analyses indicated that injured servicemembers with lower CR scores had lower general self-efficacy scores, reported more difficulty with environmental barriers, and reported their injuries as more disabling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental health disorders (MHDs), mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), and alcohol use disorder (AUD) are endemic among recent Veterans, resulting in a population with heterogeneous, co-occurring conditions. While alcohol craving negatively affects rehabilitation and leads to relapse, no studies have examined alcohol craving among Veterans with co-occurring MHDs and mTBI. The purpose of this preliminary cohort study is to describe alcohol craving in a convenience sample of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans (n = 48), including those exposed to traumatic events and experiencing active symptoms. Veterans completed weekly telephone interviews that included the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test, consumption questions (AUDIT-C) (week 1) and the Penn Alcohol Craving Scale (PACS) (weeks 1-6). Sixty percent of the sample screened positive on the AUDIT-C for probable AUD. Using Rasch analysis, the person separation reliability of the PACS was strong (0.87) among AUDIT-C positive Veterans. Higher PACS scores were reported among AUDITC positive versus AUDIT-C negative Veterans (mixed effects analysis, p < 0.001). PACS scores were higher among AUDIT-C positive Veterans with MHDs with and without mTBI versus AUDIT-C positive combat comparison Veterans (pairwise comparison, p < 0.001). Rates of hazardous alcohol use are high among Iraq and Afghanistan conflict Veterans and suggest that alcohol craving is elevated among those with MHDs with and without mTBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]