Transgressions of self and others: Exploring the associations between moral injury symptoms, social connectedness, and psychological well-being.

OBJECTIVE

Moral injury and lack of social connectedness are negatively associated with psychological well-being for those who have transitioned from military to civilian roles. However, the way in which the experiences of moral injury shape veterans' social connectedness and psychological well-being is less well understood. The present study explores the nature of the relationships between aspects of moral injury, social connectedness, and psychological well-being.

METHOD: Australian Defence Force veterans (N = 240; Mage = 50.86, SDage = 12.77; 86.5% male) participated in an online survey, providing data on their experiences of moral injury events, expressions of moral injury symptoms, sense of social connectedness, and psychological well-being. Path analyses were used to test interrelationships between these constructs.

RESULTS

Analyses revealed that both transgressions related to self and others were positively related to self-directed and other-directed moral injury symptoms, respectively. In turn, other-directed and self-directed moral injury symptoms were negatively associated with psychological well-being via social connectedness, with self-directed moral injury symptoms maintaining a negative association with psychological well-being. Additional testing found the path model remained constant when comparing the model fit between those who reported being deployed in combat roles and those who did not.

CONCLUSIONS

The study underscores the significance of social connectedness in relation to veteran psychological well-being, emphasizing the importance of using an integrative support system that can holistically address both the internal moral quandaries and the external challenges of social reintegration in the ex-serving veteran context. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).