Soldiers who displayed high optimism before deployment were less likely to develop chronic pain after being sent to Afghanistan or Iraq than those who were more pessimistic, a new study finds.
U.S. Army soldiers who were the most pessimistic were 35 percent more likely to report new back pain, joint pain, or frequent headaches after returning from deployment compared with those who were the most optimistic, the study team reports in JAMA Network Open.“We found that optimism was protective for soldiers even when they were exposed to combat or having personal injury during deployment combat,” said the study’s lead author Afton Hassett, an associate research scientist in the department of anesthesiology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
