Exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) among combat veterans has been acknowledged as a significant stressful combat event that may lead to various mental health problems, including depression and moral injury (MI), outcomes of shame and guilt. Recent studies have examined both risk and protective factors that can contribute to PMIEs and their consequences. However, while the general level of one’s moral judgment is a logical contributor to moral injuries, it has yet to be examined empirically. In the current study, we examined the unique impact of moral judgment levels on the experience of PMIEs among combat veterans. We also examined the moderating role of moral judgment in the relationship between PMIEs and MI outcomes and depressive symptoms. A volunteer sample of 70 male Israeli combat veterans completed self-report questionnaires and a moral judgment task in a cross-sectional design study. Our findings indicate that moral judgment contributed to higher levels of perceiving others’ actions as transgressive (PMIE-Other), above and beyond combat exposure. Moreover, we found that moral judgment has a moderating role in the link between PMIEs and their negative outcomes: Among veterans with higher levels of moral judgment, the association between PMIEs and their expressions was stronger than for those with lower levels of moral judgment. Our finding highlights the unique contribution of moral judgment level to PMIEs and their mental health consequences. It can be cautiously suggested that moral judgment should be viewed as a pre-recruitment risk factor that can help identify those at greater risk for mental health problems following exposure to PMIEs.

中文翻译：

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退伍军人的道德伤害及其后果：道德判断作用的初步发现


退伍军人接触潜在道德伤害事件（PMIE）已被认为是一种重大压力战斗事件，可能导致各种心理健康问题，包括抑郁和道德伤害（MI）、羞耻和内疚的结果。最近的研究探讨了可能导致 PMIE 及其后果的风险因素和保护因素。然而，虽然一个人的道德判断的总体水平是道德伤害的逻辑因素，但它还有待实证检验。在当前的研究中，我们研究了道德判断水平对退伍军人的 PMIE 体验的独特影响。我们还研究了道德判断在 PMIE 与 MI 结果和抑郁症状之间关系中的调节作用。 70 名以色列男性退伍军人志愿者样本在横断面设计研究中完成了自我报告问卷和道德判断任务。我们的研究结果表明，道德判断有助于将他人的行为视为越轨行为（PMIE-其他），超越战斗暴露。此外，我们发现道德判断在PMIE与其负面结果之间的联系中具有调节作用：在道德判断水平较高的退伍军人中，PMIE与其表达之间的联系比道德判断水平较低的退伍军人更强。我们的发现强调了道德判断水平对 PMIE 及其心理健康后果的独特贡献。可以谨慎地建议，道德判断应被视为招聘前的一个风险因素，有助于识别那些在接触 PMIE 后面临更大心理健康问题风险的人。