The relationship between personality types and some mental health indicators of the military personnel who were preparing to the peacekeeping operation

Abstract

Background: Based on the history of the last 30 years of UN peacekeeping operations, it can be seen that combat operations increase the psychological distress of peacekeepers, cause serious mental health problems, and reduce the quality of life of peacekeepers. Aim: To determine the need for psychosocial care by studying some indicators of mental health of the participants in peacekeeping operations in relationship to their personality types.. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted using a descriptive crossectional design among military personnel preparing for peacekeeping operations in South Sudan. Results: A total of 372 military personnel aged 20-47 years old, read the informed consent form and voluntarily participated in the study. 81.1% of them were 20-34 years old, and 90% were men (p≤0.001). 45.1% of all respondents answered that they had special secondary education, 37% had higher education, 72.3% were married, and 72.9% had children aged 0-3 (p≤0.001). 99% of all the respondents participating in peacekeeping operations by their own request, and 47.3% (p≤0.001) had experiences of peacekeeping operations in the past. Additionally, 60-78% of all respondents responded that training for peacekeeping operations allowed them to improve their physical development (p≤0.001), to develop psychological preparation (p≤0.001), the ability to cope with stress (p=0.002), and the ability to work in a team (p≤0.001). According to the Eysenck Personality Inventory, 21.5% of all respondents were choleric, 35.2% sanguine, 24.2% phlegmatic, and 9.1% melancholic. The manifestation of neurosis was determined to be statistically significant (p≤0.001) in respondents of melancholic type than in respondents of other types. When assessing alcohol consumption, 89.5% (n=333) of all respondents were low drinkers and 9.9% (n=37) were heavy drinkers, while with increasing age, the number of respondents with high levels of alcohol consumption or heavy drinkers and harmful consumption increased. There was a statistically significant (p=0.002) difference in alcohol consumption among over 35 years of age. Conclusion: Some indicators of mental health of military personnel who are preparing to participate in peacekeeping operations were defined differently (p≤0.001) depending on the personality types of respondents, and the consumption of alcohol is more in respondents over 35 years of age, which proves the need to take multifaceted measures to protect and support the mental health of military personnel, learn simple ways to relieve stress, and prevent the risk of mental disorders.